Howling Dragon: Book 1
by ladyanaconda
Summary: Naruto and his friends discover a new summoninng Clan: the Wolf Dragons. He quickly makes friends with Ryu, a Wind Wolf Dragon, and now must help him save his fellow Wolf Dragons from a terrible threat.
1. Prologue

Howling Dragon

_Naruto Uzumaki…_

_What an adventure awaits you…_

_You will meet many friends…_

_You will make new foes…_

_But overall…_

_You will meet an especial summoning Clan…_


	2. The Dog

Naruto- howling Dragon

Chapter 2- the Legend

_Long ago, a shinobi from Konoha named Hayabusa was returning to his village when he spotted something. An injured dog… Hayabusa took the dog home with him and took care of him until it was better. After that, they became very good friends. The dog followed Hayabusa anywhere and sometimes accompanied him in missions .They were totally inseparable. One day, Suna and Kirigakure attacked Konoha. They burned houses, killed many shinobi, and pursued the Women and children. Just when a shinobi from Suna was about to kill Hayabusa, the dog counterattacked and killed him. Then, he transformed into a combination of a Dragon and a Wolf. His fur was purple with whiteface and underbelly. He had blue hair in his head, a curved tail and long legs. The dog, which resulted to be a Wolf Dragon, howled and many more of his kind came within seconds, however they had different shaped and colors. They helped Konoha to force Suna and Kiri to retreat. After that, as a thanking gift for taking care of their comrade, the Wolf Dragons left the village a special thing: a summoning contract, so that in times of need, they would aid them in battle once again._

Jiraiya closed the book at last

-Well, what did you think? - He asked

Naruto ad Gamakichi were soundly asleep while Sakura and Tsunade weren't even looking at him

-uh? Have you already finished? - Naruto asked yawning

-Well, now that you left me talking alone again, could you tell me what was I talking about?-

-Something about another summoning Clan…- Sakura said

-it's not any summoning Clan! It's the Wolf Dragon Clan!- Jiraiya said annoyed –they are said to be incredible powerful and being to control the elements themselves!-

-Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…- gamakichi said as he cradled in the sofa he was resting on

-go on ahead, make fun of me! But if you get in trouble with this Clan, don't come at me because I won't help you!-

-come on, pervy sage, it's just a legend- Naruto said

-and if it wasn't, pops would have told me already-

-if you ask your father, then he will prove I'm RIGHT-

-I already asked him, he said that it's not confirmed yet-

-come on, can we do something else already?- Tsunade asked irritated –all this talk about summoning clans Is making me sleep-

-Alright, let's go eat then-

The four exited Tsunade's office and went to Ichiraku Ramen Bar. When they arrived, however, Ayame was storming.

-What's wrong? - Naruto asked

-A DOG CAME HERE AND STOLE A RAMEN BOWL FROM ME!!! THAT HAPPENED!!!- Ayame yelled

-A dog, you say? - Jiraiya asked –that's not possible, dogs don't eat ramen…-

-Maybe Kiba sent Akamaru to get some ramen- sakura suggested

-it was not Akamaru. This dog was big and he was swifter- Ayame said

-this is weird, what dog would eat ramen? - Naruto asked to himself

-Maybe a VERY hungry dog- Jiraiya said chuckling

-What was the dog like? - Gamakichi asked Ayame

-Well, it had purple fur and blue eyes…- she answered-

-HA! I knew it! It was a Wolf Dragon!- Jiraiya said triumphal

-Don't say a stupid thing like that, Jiraiya!- Tsunade scolded him –maybe there's a logical explanation-

-come on, Tsunade! There's no dog in Konoha that has purple fur!-

-Maybe someone dropped a bucket of purple paint on it accidently-

-oh, yeah-

Gamakichi yawned and looked around. Then he saw a four legged figure that stood in an alley.

It's icy blue eyes stared at him. Gamakichi thought that he was imagining things and decided to ignore it.

-It is! - Jiraiya said

-it's not! - Tsunade said

-It is!-

-It's not!-

-Stop it!- sakura told them both – this won't lead to anything. We must think of a logical explanation and catch that dog!-

Naruto thought for a moment and then grinned

-guys, I have an idea…- he said


	3. Ryu

Naruto- howling dragon

Chapter 3- Ryu

Naruto was doing a few more adjusts to his trap while the others looked around for the dog. Finally, Naruto stood and grinned.

-It's finally ready! -he said triumphal

The trap was weird: there was a plate of Ramen on the center of the road and there was a net a few meters away.

-What does it do? -Sakura asked

-See, when the dog comes for the ramen, he will activate the trap and the net will catch him- Naruto said proud

-Hey, that's nice- Gamakichi said

-there's a problem… if that dog was smart enough to steal a ramen bowl, it must be smart enough to figure out the trap and avoid it- Sakura said

-oh, come on. It's a dog, how much smart can he be? -Jiraiya asked

-Hey, shut up and let's hid so that the dog comes- Gamakichi said annoyed

They hid behind the Ramen bar, and waited a while. However, the dog did not come and soon night came

-what did I tell you? He was smart enough to figure out the trap- Sakura said

-I have to go home or pops will be angry- Gamakichi said

-come on, guys. A little longer…- Naruto pleaded

-Naruto, it's no use. He didn't fall for it- Tsunade replied

-what's wrong, Tsunade? Are you afraid of seeing that I WAS right about the Wolf Dragons? - Jiraiya asked her chuckling

-of course not! But a while has passed and he hasn't come!-

After arguing for a little longer, everyone decided to give up in catching the dog and went home. Gamakichi disappeared in a puff of smoke and the others left for their homes. However, as they were leaving, they heard a dog's cry of pain. They ran back to the Ramen Bar to see a large purple dog had been caught in the net. Ayame came with a pole.

-Now I will make sure this dog won't steal me again!- she said angrily as he was about to beat the dog… But Jiraiya stopped her

-no… we will take him and see what kind of dog he is…- he said

-I'm not a dog!!!- A voice said

Everyone froze the voice that they just heard…

-guys… did you hear that or am I hallucinating?- Jiraiya asked shocked

-no… I heard it too…- Tsunade answered shocked

-who… who spoke…? -Sakura asked shocked, apparently fearing to know the answer

-That'd probably be… me…- the voice repeated

Finally, the group turned towards the dog… who was looking directly at them, not looking very happy.

-well, are you going to get this thing off me or what?!- The dog said angrily with a deep, male voice

The group couldn't take that. A dog that stole Ramen was on thing but one that spoke was too much

-AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!- They screamed loudly as they fell to their backs.

-*sigh*… I will never understand humans…- the dog once again said frustrated

-t-that… d-dog… juts s-spoke….- poor Sakura said shocked as she pointed frightened at the dog

-alright… first, I'm not a dog. I'm a Wolf Dragon. Second, I have a name…- the dog started to said before being interrupted by Jiraiya

-what?!- he yelled-you're a WOLF DRAGON?! An authentic one?!-

-Err… yes…- the Wolf Dragon answered

Jiraiya was silent for a moment. Then…

-YES!!!!- He yelled triumphal- IN YOUR FACE, TSUNADE!!! WOLF DRAGONS DO EXIST!!!

Then he started to dance in front of an angry looking Tsunade.

-Well, can you let me go already? -the Wolf Dragon asked while beating the floor with his tail

-oh, sorry…- Naruto apologized as he removed the net from him.

They could clearly see his appearance. He was big enough for Naruto, Sakura pr both to ride on his back. He reached Naruto's shoulder in his four legs, which had white fur reaching to his knees. His tail was other thing… it was curved at the beginning and the rest was long, it's under part being white. However, the Wolf Dragon's face looked more like a dog's… except for the nose; the nose was a reptilian one. Also, he Wolf Dragon had pointy ears, violet fur with white underbelly and face and icy blue eyes, which had fine eyebrows over them. The Wolf Dragon was slim, his claws were sharp, and he had a small light blue Mohawk on his head, the same color as his eyes.

-Uh… what's your name? -Naruto asked him

-I'm Ryu… - the Wolf Dragon answered, apparently his anger had cooled down

-well, Ryu… do you have anywhere to sleep? -Sakura asked

-in reality, no… -

-then you should come with us…- Tsunade said smiling- you can sleep in Naruto's house with him, that way you will get to meet each other better-

Ryu thought for a moment

-That sounds good…- he finally said

-Fine, then let's go- Jiraiya said, having just stopped dancing

The group left for their homes, Ryu following Naruto. After Naruto opened the door Ryu walked in and rested in a corner. Naruto went to his bathroom and put on his pajamas, then went to bed. Ryu had fallen asleep and was curled up, Naruto rested in his bed, covered himself with his blankets and fell asleep soundly while the moon kept illuminating the nocturnal sky.


	4. An Interesing Tale

Naruto- Howling Dragon

Chapter 4- an interesting tale

After breakfast, Naruto took Ryu to the Hokage building, where Jiraiya, Tsunade, Sakura, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu were waiting. Shizune was also there, she wanted to know if there was really a Wolf Dragon in Konoha.

"So, this is the Hokage building I have heard so much about?" Ryu asked Naruto as they entered

"Yep, this is where Tsunade does her work." Naruto answered

"What does she do?"

"Most of all, paperwork."

"Poor Tsunade…"

Finally, they entered Tsunade's office. Gamakichi was shocked to see Ryu

"I-is that a Wolf Dragon?" he asked shocked

"Yep, he is." Jiraiya replied

"So, it was not a lie… there IS a Wolf Dragon here…" Shizune whispered

"Well, we would like to know about you Ryu." Tsunade said "where are you from? What are you doing here? Who sent you?"

"Well, where should I start…" Ryu whispered

"Why don't you tell us about your home?" Sakura suggested

"Well, that would be a good idea. Okay, I'll tell you, but I'd suggest you get comfortable, because it's a long story."

Everyone sat down, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu cradled in Naruto¿

S les as Ryu started:

"I come from Syrio. Syrio it's the land where all of my kind lives, and if you saw it, you would consider it a paradise. It has blue crystalline creeks and a huge lake, there are many forests fill of life and large grass plains. We are ruled by the great Alpha, the most powerful of the Wolf Dragons that walk the earth. In fact, it was a great honor to meet him. There are 8 tribes. The five great tribes are the Water Tribe, the Fire tribe, the Earth tribe, the Wind tribe and the Shadow tribe. They are the most powerful tribes. The remaining three tribes are the Ice tribe, the Lighting tribe and the Forest tribe. I'm from the Wind Tribe, which means I'm a Wind Wolf Dragon; my tribe has mastery over the Wind element. The same with the other tribes, they all master one kind of element. The Great Alpha is the only one who can master all the elements. However, one day, everything changed. A pale- faced man with black hair came to Syrio and demanded us to accept him as our leader. When we refused, he summoned giant snakes that began destroying everything in their sight. Many of us perished trying to protect our homeland, and the remaining Wolf Dragons fled. I was one of those surviving Wolf Dragons, I had to see how my comrades were killed by that bastard… and my other friends should be somewhere, trying to survive… "

Everyone went silent until Ryu had mentioned the man with black hair and pale face that summoned snakes

"Orochimaru…" Tsunade said clenching her teeth

"Who?" Ryu asked curious

"The man you mentioned is called Orochimaru" Jiraiya explained, anger visibly in his eyes

"You know him?!"

"yes. He has killed many shinobi, he even killed the Third Hokage" Sakura said

"So, we're not the only ones who have suffered because of that man."

"Well, what were you saying?" Gamakichi asked, urging Ryu to continue

"Oh, yeah. When Syrio had almost been destroyed, the great alpha fought the intruder, but it was too much for him. He was captures and now he is being held prisoner by Orochimaru, who threatened us to kill him if we didn't submit. Most of the land had been destroyed, there wasn't much food left. We resolved to leave until Syrio had gotten back to normal, and I came here because I heard that a boy that had once defeated Gaara of the sand lived here. I thought he could help me to find my friends and rescue the Great Alpha."

Everyone at this point gasped… Ryu was looking for Naruto, though he didn't know e was the boy he was looking for

"So, do you know this boy?" Ryu asked them

"Y-yeah… he's next to you…" Gamakichi said

Ryu was confused and turned, Naruto was there

"Naruto? He's the boy who defeated Gaara of the sand?" he asked surprised

"Yes…" Shizune answered

"Well, I expected him to be… a bit taller…"

Naruto sighed frustrated

"Well, anyway. What would you like me to do?" he asked, showing he was eager to help

"First, I need to find my friends. When Orochimaru attacked, we split up and I haven't seen them since then, but they should be somewhere around here…" Ryu replied

"What are we waiting for?" Jiraiya asked "let's go, I haven't had an adventure like this for a long time! Besides, I'd like to learn more about Wolf Dragons."

"I'm going too." Sakura said

"I want to go…" Gamakichi whispered "but I don't know what pops is going to say…"

"Alright, let's prepare and we're setting off tomorrow."

"But Ryu, I think you should meet pops." Gamakichi told Ryu "maybe you can convince him…"

"Who's your father?" Ryu asked

"He's the Chief Toad."

"The Chief Toad… Gamabunta, right?"

"You know pops?"

"no, but I have heard about him… they said he once helped the Fourth Hokage defeat the nine-tailed demon fox…"

"Yep, that's true." Gamakichi replied with pride

"Oh… it would be a honor to meet him… and your mother?" Ryu asked curiously

"…"

"…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay… she… she's dead…"

Gamakichi felt tears were threatening to fall, just to think about her made him feel sad, both him and his father. Gamatatsu, however, had fallen asleep when Ryu was telling his story. Ryu looked at them…

"Well, when are you going home?" he asked Gamakichi

"Would it bother to come with us?" Gamakichi asked him

"No, I will accompany you if you want…"

"Thanks… Gamatatsu, wake up"

Gamatatsu yawned and opened his eyes slightly

"Hi, big brother. Hi, doggie." He said

Ryu didn't like to be called like that, but decided to ignore it. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu disappeared in a puff of smoke and after a while, Ryu did the same.

"Their mother died…?" Sakura asked as soon as they left

"Yes." Jiraiya answered sadly "she got sick and died after a few days. Bunta was heartbroken."

"He loved her that much?" Naruto asked

"yes… he loved her very much…"


	5. Gamalyra

Howling dragon

Chapter 5- Gamalyra

Gamakichi, Ryu and Gamatatsu appeared in Myobokuzan in a puff of smoke. Ryu was amazed at the view: the silver moon shone over giant leaves and illuminated the oil fountain nearby. Gamakichi looked around

"I guess pops must be doing his paperwork… again…" he whispered, notable sadness in his voice

"Where do you live?" Ryu asked

"We live near here, so we can walk."

"Gamakichi, I'm tired." Gamatatsu said yawning

"Ride on my back." Ryu suggested as he rested.

Gamatatsu, thought doubtful at first, chose to try. He rode on Ryu's back and grabbed by his fur.

"Let's go, follow me." Gamakichi said as he hopped towards his home, Ryu following.

"Wee!" Gamatatsu said happily, Ryu just smiled faintly. He had always had a soft spot for children… when they didn't cause trouble. After a while, Gamatatsu had fallen asleep.

"So… could you tell me more about your mother...?" Ryu said breaking the silence.

"…I… don't remember much of her… she died when I was 4 years old… Gamatatsu was just a baby…" Gamakichi answered sadly

"Oh…"

"But I remember she had yellow skin with orange markings, golden eyes… she was very sweet, and her voice always made us feel safe… she was beautiful."

"Yellow skin with orange markings… like your little brother, right?"

"Yes…"

"And what did you get from her?"

"Pops always says I got her golden eyes…"

"Speaking of your father… how's he?"

"He's huge, and he is very protective with us. Pops hates to be underestimated; he is usually grumpy and apathetic. What I admire from him is his strong will and his determination. He spends almost all day doing his paperwork; he barely has time for us."

"That hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yes… but sometimes he peeks in our rooms when we're sleeping to look at us… other times we argue over little things…"

"What did you get from him?"

"Well, I have often noticed our markings are similar. Fukasaku says I got his stubbornness and his strong will… and his sharp eyes…"

"Sharp eyes?"

"I didn't understand it neither."

"When your mom died… how did he take it?"

"Very bad, he was heart-broken. He loved her more than life itself."

"Wow… that sure is fidelity."

"There's pops." Gamakichi suddenly said surprised while looking to a nearby tree. Bunta was sitting under it and looking at the moon. Gamakichi came closer, Ryu following nervously. Gamabunta noticed his son coming closer and saw Ryu.

"Gamakichi… who's your friend?" he asked surprised

"Pops… this is Ryu… he's a… a…" Gamakichi barely could say nervously

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing… he's a… w-wolf d-dragon…"

Gamabunta's eyes opened wide

"What?! A wolf dragon?!" he asked in disbelief

"Yes." Ryu answered politely

"Well… sorry for my reaction… but I have never seen one of your kind."

"It's okay. Naruto and the white- haired man reacted the same way."

"So you have already met them."

"Pops… I wanted to ask you something…" Gamakichi said nervously

"About what? Why are you so nervous?" his father asked with concern

"See… Naruto and the others are going to help Ryu find his friends… and they are going on a journey…"

"What's your point?"

"… Can I go?"

"Gamakichi, we have already talked about this."

"Please, pops! I can never go anywhere!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go."

Ryu was listening carefully; apparently Gamakichi actually HAD inherited his father's stubbornness.

"What's the point in staying anyway, you are always working!!!" Gamakichi yelled at the verge of tears

"Don't use that tone with me!" Gamabunta scolded his son apparently starting to lose his patience

"I HATE YOU!!!" Gamakichi finally yelled before turning and running away, tears coming out of his eyes

Gamabunta sighed as he closed his eyes, he felt his heart sore. His wife had always known how to handle these things… and he had noticed Gamakichi knew that too.

"That was… hard…" Ryu whispered

"It's okay… he became like that when… his mother died…" Gamabunta said as he opened his eyes

"I suppose I should be going…"

"Oh, no. I'd like to know what brought you here."

Ryu told Gamabunta all what had happened in Syrio. Since Orochimaru's arrival to the kidnapping of the Great Alpha's. Gamatatsu yawned and rubbed his eyes, completely oblivious about the discussion his father and older brother just had. He looked at his father.

"Hi, daddy." He said

Gamabunta didn't answer; he just wrapped his tongue carefully around him and placed him in his head. Gamatatsu just tried and hugged his father before falling asleep again; Bunta smiled faintly and caressed his youngest son's cheek carefully.

"Gamakichi told me about his mother…" Ryu whispered

"… yeah… she died when he was four years old and Gamatatsu was three months old. I had to raise them myself." Gamabunta replied, his face saddened a bit when he mentioned his late wife.

"What was her name?"

"… Gamalyra…"

"It's a cute name. I know I shouldn't ask this… but why don't you let him go?"

"I don't want to lose him… I wouldn't stand it…"

"Don't worry. I can take care of him and the white haired man…"

"Jiraiya."

"Yeah. Jiraiya and you are long time friends, right? He apparently knew a lot about you."

"Yes."

"He could take care of him also."

Gamabunta frowned in thought. After a while, he closed his eyes.

"Very well, then." He finally answered

"Alright…"

"But with one condition."

--on a nearby hill—

Gamakichi was crouched in a nearby hill, tears streaming down his face. He missed his mother, she always understood him. His father, on the other hand, loved him but often acted indifferent. He had gone under emotional training, Fukasaku said, but still he didn't have to act so cold. He was HIS son, and sometimes he his father didn't care about him. Ryu came next to him and sat by his side.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier." Gamakichi apologized as he dried his tears

"Don't worry; I have been in worse discussions."

"Well, I suppose I won't go..."

"Speaking of which, I managed to convince him."

"Really?"

"Yes... but he only will let you go with one condition."

"What condition?"

Ryu gulped, he wasn't sure if he should tell him. That condition would maybe made him even more upset than before.

"Ryu, what's the matter?" Gamakichi asked with a worried expression. "What was the condition?"

Ryu sighed and looked at Gamakichi's golden eyes.

"He wants to come too."


	6. The Pact and The Departure

Howling Dragon- a Naruto fanfic

Chapter 6- The Pact and The Departure

Ryu went back to the village after taking Gamakichi home, knowing that the upcoming argue was a father and son argue. He had never known that the Chief Toad was a widower father, and less that he cared for his children. Of course he cared for his children, all fathers do… Ryu sighed before trying to remember the way to Naruto's house, this village was large. After a while, the Wolf Dragon managed to use his smell sense to find Naruto's house and went in. Naruto was in bed looking through the window; he looked at Ryu and gave him a slight smile.

"How did it go?" he asked

"Not as bad." Ryu answered "Gamabunta didn't agree at first, but finally he budged with one condition."

"What condition?"

"He will only allow them to come with us if he goes too…"

"WHAT?!"

"That's the only way he agreed!"

"Oh, great! It's already bad for having to go with Pervy Sage and now you tell me that the Chief Toad is coming too."

"Try to understand him; he loved his children very much."

"It's not that, but… he can get grumpy sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"When I met him, I had to remain on his back for the whole day! It felt like I was in a rodeo or something like that!"

"Compared to the initiation test for our summoners, that's nothing."

"Why? What's your test?"

"That's something I can't tell you unless you have a pact with us."

"But I already have a contract with the toads!"

"Oh, no. you're not understanding me. We do not use a contract, only a pact. See, you swear loyalty to out clan and you automatically become our subordinate."

"Really?"

"And when you do that, you get abilities other summoning clans don't offer."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell you-"

"Unless I have a pact with Wolf Dragons"

"You're understanding"

"So, how do I swear loyalty to Wolf Dragons?"

"…see, you must give a few drops of blood and swear. After that, you might get some effects for the abilities."

"I got it."

Naruto got a kunai out of his pocket and cut his hand slightly. When some drops of blood fell to the floor, he said these words:

"I, Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, swear loyalty to the powerful Wolf Dragon Clan."

Then, all of sudden, a silver light surrounded Naruto and swirled around him, then it dissipated into the air.

"That's all?" Naruto asked confused

"Yes, and… wow, I didn't expect the effects would come out so soon." Ryu pointed out

"What do you mean?"

"Touch your ears."  
"Why?"

"Just do it"

Though confused, Naruto touched his ears and felt something… fur. Confused, Naruto went into the bathroom and screamed. He had now pointy wolf ears, and to enworse things, he discovered he had also grown a long bushy tail.

"RYU?! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!" he asked the Wind Wolf Dragon yelling. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THIS THINGS WOULD COME OUT IN MY BODY?!"

"Don't worry, you can camouflage them wherever you want." Ryu answered calmed

"HOW?!"

"Just think of it."

Naruto closed his eyes shut.

"_Ears and tail go away. Ears and tail go away. Ears and tail go away!"_He thought

When he opened his eyes, Naruto was relieved to see that the wolf ears and tail had vanished.

"Now, as for the test I was talking about…" Ryu then said

"Oh, finally!" Naruto said

"…you have to fight me."

Naruto's eyes went wide open in shock,

"WHAT?!" he asked

"Yep, the initial test consists on the new summoner having to fight the first Wolf Dragon he or she summons, from any tribe."

"Why didn't you mention it in the first place?"

"I couldn't, you hadn't a pact with us."

Naruto gave a sigh of frustration before allowing his body to fall onto his bed. Ryu smirked and curled up next to Naruto's bed and falling asleep soundly.

--Myobokuzan—

Gamakichi was even angrier than before. He considered himself old enough to take care of himself, why his father didn't…? What was his problem? He couldn't stand it, he felt about going outside and start to rampage through the woods. In fact, he was willing to fight a member of the Snake summoning clan face to face, even Manda himself, if that could prove his father he wasn't a child anymore. But his father's glare was so strong, so dominant, it would intimidate a fully grown Snake… finally, Gamakichi couldn't stand it anymore and decided to tell his father what he thought. He went out of his room and went directly to his father's, entering without taking the bother to knock the door. The Chief Toad looked at his son calmly before heading his look towards the night sky of his window.

"Pops, it's not fair!" was the first thing that came out of Gamakichi's mouth.

"What's not fair?" Gamabunta asked his son, pretending to not know anything

"I can take care of myself! I don't need you to be watching over me all the time!"

"Gamakichi, listen…"

"No, you listen! I'm not a child ANYMORE!"

"But you have no experience in battle!"

"I would if you had EVER let me fight!"

"And do you know how to fight? How to defend yourself in an enemy attack?"

Gamakichi frowned; he knew his father was right. Despite being the son of the Chief Toad, he knew nothing about battling, and less about jutsu or hand seals.

"… No" he finally answered

"See? Gamakichi, in terms of age you are not a child, but in terms of battling you are barely old enough to stand. You say you can take care of yourself, but you don't even know how to fight the weakest of opponents. If I let you go alone, I don't even want to think what would happen to you if an enemy attacks you."

"…mom would have let me go alone..."

"Excuse me?"

"mom would have let me go alone! She DID have trust on me!"

"don't mess your mother into this conversation!"

"she always respected my decisions, why you don't?!"

"ENOUGH!"

Gamakichi gasped surprised, he had never seen his father like this… Gamabunta tried to be more patient, but he wouldn't allow ANYONE to mention his late wife in argues like this. He sighed as he closed his eyes.

"Gamakichi, I'm going, end of discussion." He said firmly

Gamakichi felt angrier than before, but preferred to leave the matter how it was and left for his room, his heart sore.

--next day, 5:00 A.M., gates of Konoha—

Naruto, Sakura, Jiraiya and Tsunade were standing in the gates, looking towards the road and the forest. They had rested the best they could for the hard journey they would have. Ryu came, as fresh as his human companions. Naruto had explained the others about pacts with Wolf Dragons.

"You really grew wolf ears and tail?" Sakura asked him surprised

"Yeah…" Naruto answered

"I would have loved to see them!" Jiraiya exclaimed

"I can show them if you want."

Naruto made some hand seals taught by Ryu and his ears and tail appeared again.

"HOLY SHIT!" Jiraiya exclaimed, not believing it.

"Wow! I've never seen something like this before!" Tsunade exclaimed

"Anyway, let's call the Chief Toad so we can go" Sakura reminded them, not wanting to wait any longer to meet the other Wolf Dragons.

Jiraiya bit his thumb, so did Naruto and they made the correspondent hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!" They both said as the smoke appeared. When it cleared, they were surprised to see that the Chief toad now was only as tall as Ryu, while his children were still on their same stature.

"Bunta?! Is that you?!" Jiraiya asked shocked

"If you're wondering why I'm way more smaller than before, I used the shrinking technique" Gamabunta answered

"Wow, I've never seen you in this size, Chief Toad."

"I've never used this technique neither…"

"Well, can we go now?" Sakura asked eager

"Let's go already!" Gamakichi said eager also, though he was still angry at his father

Then, the group ran into the road and started their journey as a wolf howled in the distance and the sun began to come out of its nocturnal slumber to give its heat to the creatures that inhabited this world. However, little they knew they would learn new things about each other that they wouldn't have found out in any other way, nor that they would learn more about the legendary clan of the Wolf Dragons.


	7. Saiko

Howling Dragon

Chapter 7- Saiko

Meanwhile, far away from there, a creature ran in the forest. Anyone who saw it would have sweared to have seen a giant dog, but this wasn't a dog… it was clearly too big to be one. He had a sleek figure, light brown fur with white jaw and underbelly. His ears were incredibly big, making it easier for him to hear the sounds in the forest, and were of a dark brown color. He had a small tuft of red hair in his head, dark brown striped running down his body and dark brown tanuki rings around his emerald eyes. His tail was thin and long, it's tip was dark brown also. His nose was a reptilian one.

"That was a close one…" was the first thing he said, his voice wasn't as deep as Ryu's, but it was clearly a male voice which sounded tired and nervous "where could Ryu be?"

Then, the giant wolf left for another place

Meanwhile…

Naruto was explaining to Sakura how to make a pact with Wolf Dragons, as she wanted to make a pact with them too. The rest were a bit forward, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu were riding on Ryu's back, Jiraiya was getting tired and Tsunade was talking in low voice with Gamabunta.

"So I only need to give a few drops of blood and swear loyalty to the clan?"

"That's right"

"And what's that initiation test?"

"You have to-OW!"

Naruto yelped in pain when Ryu hit him with his tail

"Hey, Ryu, that wasn't necessary!" he said angrily

"Don't tell her yet"

"Okay, got the message."

Sakura got a Kunai out of her pocket and cut her hand slightly.

"I, Sakura Haruno of the Village Hidden in The Leaves, swear loyalty to the powerful Wolf Dragon Clan" she said before the same light that had enveloped Naruto enveloped her before dissipating once again.

"Wow, your ears and tail are less bushy than Naruto's" Ryu said, at which Sakura touched her ears and screamed when she discovered they were wolf ears. The others turned to see her and were shocked to see her ears and tail. However, unlike Naruto's, they were fuchsia instead of orange. Sakura closed her eyes shut, and much to her relief the ears and ail disappeared.

"Why are they of a different color?" Gamakichi asked Ryu

"Because their personalities are different, and so are their auras. The color of their fur depends on the color of their aura."

"Then Bunta's aura would be red because he's always on bad mood!" Jiraiya chuckled before receiving a dagger glare from Gamabunta, at which he shut up.

"Then yours would be white because you're a pervert!" Gamabunta replied with a smirk

"No, in reality, the white aura is possessed by those pure of heart" Ryu explained "in case of Jiraiya… I guess his aura would be dark brown…"

"But I hate that color!"

"What about me?" Tsunade asked

"Yours would be golden"

Gamatatsu had fallen asleep a while ago

"Hey, guys, how do you think the other Wolf Dragons are?" Gamakichi asked

"I don't know…" Sakura replied

"Well, all I can tell you is that we have different body shapes and color depending on our tribe." Ryu explained

"And how do you fight"

"That's something you will know very soon… as you have to fight me"

"WHAT?"

"See… the test consists on the first Wolf Dragon you encounter, no matter form which tribe it is" Naruto explained

"and why didn't you-?"

"you hadn't a pact"

Sakura sighed frustrated, but calmed down after a while. It couldn't be so bad…

"And who are we going to look for first?" Gamabunta inquired

"Saiko…"

"Saiko? Who's Saiko?" Tsunade asked

"Saiko is an Earth Wolf Dragon, a Wolf Dragon from the Earth Tribe to be more precise" Ryu explained "he should be somewhere near these forests."

"Okay, and how does he look like?" Jiraiya asked

"His fur is light brown with dark brown striped, he has a tuft of red hair on his head, green eyes and VERY big ears, so it should be easy for you to identify him."

"Let's hope he won't be hostile…"

"Saiko? Hostile? He wouldn't hurt even a fly… unless it's a traitor or a liar, then it would be a very different thing"

"And how will we find him? This forest is huge…" Gamakichi said

"I could try to locate him by howling"

"Howling?" Sakura asked

"Yes, that's our communication system."

"I'd like to hear it" Tsunade said

Ryu sat and gave a loud and long wolf howl while pointing his head at the sky.

XOXOXO

Saiko was resting on the tree branch of a tree when his ears reacted and peered up to the sound. He recognized the sound of his fellow Wolf Dragon. A human or a common dog would have concluded it was a normal wolf howl, but no him... Wolf Dragons' howls were different, more passionate, more intelligent… instinctively; Saiko answered the calling with another howl, so he Ryu would know he was fine and where he was.

XOXOXO

Ryu's ears peered up when his friend answered the call, it was a good Signal. Naruto and Sakura not only heard a howl, they heard a whisper… they couldn't understand it at all, Naruto thought for a moment and made his wolf ears appear. Then he was surprised when he heard a clear sentence instead of a simple whisper in a howl as his ears peered

"_**Ryu… I'm fine… I am near Sakami village**__"_ he heard

"_**Fine, we are heading there so don't go anywhere**__" _was Ryu's reply in the form of another howl

Gamakichi tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what Ryu was talking with his friend. He looked at his father, who clearly didn't understand a word of what they were saying neither.

"What are they saying?" Tsunade asked in confusion

"Saiko is in Sakami village" Naruto answered, a surprised look in his face

"Naruto, if you're wondering why you only could understand the howls when you had your wolf ears out, it's because your hearing sense becomes more potent… and the animal sounds or howls traduce into words, something that human ears cannot understand."

"You are telling me that I can understand animals when my ears are peered out?" Naruto asked

"Yes, and Sakura can too."

"Excuse me, but can we continue? It will be night soon, and Sakami village is still far away" Gamabunta said

"Good point, let's go" Tsunade replied

The group kept going, no matter how much their feet ached. As if something incited them to keep going, no matter the obstacles. They were eager to meet Saiko, they wanted to learn as much as possible form Wolf Dragons.

XOXOXO

Saiko was napping under a tree, his ears lowered. He hadn't heard any other howls from Ryu, only sounds from the creatures of the forest, the whistling of the wind and the chirping of the birds. The sun was setting, but he was asleep, otherwise he would be admiring the view. Sakami village was getting ready for the long, dark night. They lighted their lamps, closed their windows and women started cooking dinner for their husband and children, who surely would come home hungry. After a while, Saiko's ears peered up and he caught a familiar smell… he looked around for the source of the smell, smelling the air, like a dog smelling the scent of cooking meat. He smelled more and more, the scent got closer and closer, Saiko felt his heart accelerating because of the confusion… it might be the smell of any of his friends or an enemy… that snake guy… it was not until he saw familiar icy blue eyes that Saiko realized who it was

"Ryu!" he yelled overjoyed

"Saiko!" Ryu replied back excited also

They showed their happiness by jumping around and waging their tails, like pups that wanted to play. Saiko saw peered his ears up again as he saw Ryu's companions

"Well, I see that you met new friends… was the first thing that came out of his mouth

"That's Saiko…?" Sakura asked

"Are you sure he isn't a giant dog? He doesn't look like a wolf at all…" Gamakichi whispered

"The blonde boy is Naruto Uzumaki" Ryu explained Saiko "and the rest are his friends. They are going to help us rescue the Great Alpha"

"Naruto Uzumaki? You mean the boy who defeated Shukaku, the spirit of the desert?" Saiko asked uncredously

"Yes, he and the pink-haired girl, Sakura, made a pact with us."

"And who will they fight? You?"

"Yes"

"Well, I'm tired" Jiraiya said "what do you think If we call it a day and rest? Tomorrow you can fight Naruto and Sakura"

"Good point I'm even sweating" Naruto said

The group decided to sleep outside, as Sakami village had no Inn to stay for a night, so there was no other choice. Ryu and Saiko curled up under a tree, Naruto, Sakura, Jiraiya and Tsunade got their sleeping bags out of their bags and laid them on the floor. Their rested inside them and covered themselves, they fell asleep shortly. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu looked at their father, who wrapped them with his tongue carefully and placed them on a nearby pond. Toads could sleep anywhere, as long as it was humid and cool. Gamabunta was too big to go into the pond, so he instead rested next to it and stared at his sleeping children for a long time, then his tiredness got the better of him and he fell asleep soundly. The only bad thing: after two minutes he began to snort. Gamakichi opened his eyes slightly and looked at his father, e smiled slightly when he looked at him snorting. He couldn't believe his mother had never complained about that. He suppressed a desire to complain to his father, knowing he always got on a very bad mood when ANYBODY woke him up, even his mother knew that. Gamakichi yawned and fell asleep shortly as the moon soared over them.


	8. Naruto's Test

Howling Dragon

Chapter 8- Naruto's Test

In a far away hidden mountain, there was a fortress in a cliff; it was being guarded by shinobi of Kirigakure. The bricks were made of stone, which made it difficult to see the fortress from a far. Inside the fortress there was a chamber with a large cage inside. In the cage, there was a Wolf Dragon. However, this Wolf Dragon was different from Ryu or Saiko… he was pure white with golden markings and a black Mohawk on his head. His long tail was bushy and his eyes were closed, his reptilian nose smelled the air. The Wolf Dragon was chained from the neck, paws and waist and there was a muzzle in his mouth, he seemed to be old or he already would have broken his bonds and out o his prison. Orochimaru and Kabuto quietly entered the chamber.

"Have the Wolf Dragons answered my demands?" Orochimaru asked with a sickening grin

"They agreed to follow your orders, with the condition that you let go the Great Alpha" Kabuto answered

"Tell them I won't le him go, I want to make sure they won't betray me"

"But milord… what will you do with the Great Alpha after the Wolf Dragons are not of any use to you?"

"Kill him, of course… I need a carpet for my living room"

"But wouldn't that cause the Wolf Dragons to attack us?"

"No if I make them believe I still have him hostage. I can finally get my revenge on Konohagakure, and eventually, the world will be mine!"

Orochimaru chuckled maniacally; the great Alpha peered his ears up and opened his eys slightly. He decided to remain still until he left

"Ryu… Saiko… Calcifer… Rayver… Yoshiko… hurry up, please" he thought to himself

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Meanwhile, back at the forest, the moon still soared over the sky and the sun would rise in a few more hours. Ryu couldn't sleep; he was too worried about the Great Alpha to get sleepy. He noticed Saiko was awake and Gamabunta wasn't there anymore. Where could he have gone? Saiko looked at Ryu

"You can't sleep neither?" he asked his friend from the Wind Tribe

"No… what if Orochimaru did something to the Great Alpha?"

"Don't worry, I don't… Orochimaru? That's HIS name?"

"Yes. Naruto and his friends have also suffered severe losses because of him, he murdered the third Hokage"

"What? The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi?"

"Yeah…"

"And… who do we look for now?"

"… Can we save Calcifer for the last?"

"Don't tell me you still in that stupid and immature rivalry with him even after what happened!"

"Immature? Look who talks, the Mr. I pee in the bed when I get scared"

"Hey! That's different!"

"Anyway, I suppose you're right. Even though I hate to say it, we should look for Calcifer"

"Let's just hope he didn't get into trouble"

"Anyway, did you see Gamabunta going somewhere?"

"No"

"Then where did he go?"

"I think he went to have a walk, his children are still sleeping"

"Come on, let's look for him"

Ryu and Saiko stood and quietly left to look for the Chief Toad.

Gamabunta, meanwhile, was sitting in a hill, thinking about Gamakichi. He was worried, though he wouldn't admit it out loud. Gamakichi in various occasions had told him that he hated him, and it broke his heart each time his own son told him that. He wished he could bond with Gamakichi, but… for a weird reason, he found it difficult. Since Gamalyra died, Gamakichi became more rebel and less emotional, saying he could take care of himself. However, deep inside, he knew he missed his mother as much as him. He was his father, he knew him more than anyone else. Gamabunta sighed and heard footsteps, but he apparently knew who it was. Ryu and Saiko came closer, not knowing if Bunta was on bad mood.

"It's okay" was the reply they got

"You can't sleep?" Saiko asked

"No. I'm not as tired as I expected"

"You know, I really think your eldest son really got you stubbornness" Ryu said

"At least he didn't get my snoring." Bunta smirked slightly

"… You miss her, don't you?"

"…yes."

"Miss who?" Saiko asked confused

"Sai, I will tell you later." Ryu whispered to him

"But I don't understand"

"I'm going to try and sleep" Gamabunta finally said as he went back to the camp. Ryu gave Saiko a stern look

"…what? Did I say something wrong?" Saiko asked confused

"Everything you say is wrong" Ryu replied coldly

"But what's wrong? Who do you say he misses?"

"…his wife"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if you read this in one of encyclopedias of yours, but Lord Gamabunta is a WIDOWER father"

"What? And how did she die?"

"She got sick, but I don't know what disease she got"

"So, he raised his children alone…"

"And I don't think you should be reminding him of that"

"Okay, I got the message"

"Let's go to sleep already"

"Alright, alright…"

The Wolf Dragons left for the camp.

Next morning

Naruto and Sakura woke up, they had been anxious for their initiation test. Saiko was still asleep, the position he was sleeping in was quite funny… he was sleeping face-up and his tongue was of his mouth, his right back leg was kicking, he apparently was having a good dream. Ryu, however, was already awake as if expecting them. Gamakichi opened his eyes slightly and quietly went into the cool morning water and swam to the shore. Then he hopped to where his friends where.

"Ready?" he asked them

"Ready!" Sakura and Naruto answered eagerly

"Fine, follow me"

"Mind if I go with you?" Gamakichi asked

"No, you can watch if you want"

Then the four walked away from the camp to a nearby field, a river was close.

"Who of you will go first?" Ryu asked them

"Me!" Naruto was the first one to say

"Fine, Sakura, I'd suggest you to step aside."

Sakura nodded and waited for them in a tree, Gamakichi following. Ryu ans Naruto took battle position.

"Alright… let's do it" Naruto grinned

"3… 2… 1… GO!" Ryu yelled

Both charged towards each other. Naruto threw kunais at Ryu, but he avoided them easily.

"Is that all you have?" Ryu smirked

"You haven't seen anything yet" Naruto replied with a big grin. He tried to punch and kick Ryu, but he was too fast and agile. Ryu grabbed Naruto's jacket with his fangs and threw him towards a tree, Naruto did a back flip and concentrated Chakra on his feet, he sticked to the tree.

"Impressive…" Ryu thought to himself

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_" Naruto yelled as he made hand seals and five shadow clones appeared in nearby trees, much to Ryu's surprise. "_**Shihōhappō Shuriken!**_". The clones three Shuriken at Ryu, but he grinned, as if having an ace under the sleeve.

"_**Futon: Saikuron!**_ (A/N- Cyclone)" he yelled. A he swirled his tail towards Naruto and a huge cyclone changed the directions of the shuriken, they hit the trees instead of Ryu. Naruto's clones disappeared and the original Naruto was caught in the cyclone and swirled around. When the cyclone dissipated, Naruto fell to the ground with a loud thump.

"Ow!"Naruto yelped

"That's nothing!" Ryu grinned "_**Shobatsu no Kiba! **_(A/N- punishing fang)"

Ryu then concentrated Chakra in his jaws and they became sharper and bigger, he then charged towards Naruto and bit him in the waist… but Naruto turned into a log. An amazed Ryu let go the log

"Substitution jutsu, eh?" he thought to himself.

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_"

Ryu turned too late, a clone kicked him upwards, another kicked him even higher and the original Naruto kicked him to the ground, Ryu crashed. He stood up.

"Not bad…" he whispered

"Then you should take a look at this!" Naruto said as he made more clones appear

"_**Saikuron!**_" Ryu yelled as he formed another cyclone

"Just what I expected!" Naruto grinned as he and his clones jumped into the cyclones. One of the clones grabbed Ryu's back leg and dragged him into the cyclone

"What the-?" Ryu yelled

Naruto grabbed one of his clones' toes, and the clone grabbed other clone's toes and it kept until they grabbed the toes of the clones that had dragged Ryu, forming a whip made of Naruto's. The original Naruto whipped the long chain of Naruto's and threw Ryu down to the ground, taking advantage that the cyclone had dissipated. Ryu was defeated now, he stood.

"Wow… now THAT'S something" Ryu smirked weakly as Naruto landed and his clones disappeared.

"Are you okay, Ryu?" Naruto asked his friend with concern.

"Don't worry. Wolf Dragons can heal in a few hours."

"Well, I think Saiko should be the one who fights Sakura"

"I suppose you're right."

Sakura had watched from the forest and was amazed at seeing how Naruto had defeated Ryu, Gamakichi was next to her. He wished he was as powerful as Ryu, but his father wouldn't led him fight…

"Well, Naruto, you're officially a subordinate" Ryu smiled slightly

"Thanks, I suppose" Naruto replied

"And when will I fight?" Sakura asked

"Well, I'm exhaust, so you will have to fight Saiko" Ryu answered her

"But he's asleep"

"Don't worry, he should be awake now"

"And I hope pops didn't wake up" Gamakichi whispered "he will be angry if he finds out I left without permission"

"permission?" Sakura asked him curiously

"he became overprotective with me and Gamatatsu… since mom died"

Gamakichi's face saddened a bit when he mentioned his late mother

"Let's go back and see Saiko" Naruto said as the group went back to the camp.


	9. Sakura's Test

Howling Dragon

Chapter 8- Sakura's Test

When they got back to the camp, Tsunade and Jiraiya had already woken up and were having breakfast. When they saw Ryu, they panicked.

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked them shocked

"Don't worry. I fought Naruto to test his skills and he passed" Ryu answered calmly

"Well, you should have told us"

"You were asleep…" Sakura added

"And pops?" Gamakichi asked, fearing his father had already woken up.

"Uh, he's still asleep" Tsunade answered "sincerely, I don't know why he has to snore when he sleeps."

"Speaking of sleeping, where's Saiko? He will have to fight Sakura in my stead. I'm too hurt to fight her." Ryu said

"Saiko, he is over there" Jiraiya answered as he pointed at the sleeping Earth Wolf Dragon. Ryu got closer to his friend, cleared his throat and looked back at the humans.

"If I were you, I would cover my ears." He told them

Naruto and the others did as told; Gamakichi looked at his sleeping father horrified: if Ryu was going to yell, he would surely wake him up unwillingly.

"SAIKO, WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUMP!" was the first thing Ryu yelled, Saiko's eyes snapped open wide.

"AH!"He yelled as he jumped on his back legs and fell backwards. He shaked his head and looked at Ryu angrily. "That wasn't necessary, you know!"

"Sorry, but you were deep in sleep" Ryu chuckled

"You already tested them?"

"Well, I only tested Naruto. Sakura is next; I wanted to ask you if you could test her"

"Well, I don't see why not… but I'm telling you, I'm not good at fighting"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say"

Gamakichi looked at his father and was relieved to see he hadn't woken up. Maybe he was way too tired. Gamatatsu, however, had woken up with Ryu's yell. He looked around and went next to his father.

"Can we go already?" Gamakichi asked in low voice "if pops wakes up, he won't be happy"

"Oh, come on! How much can a toad sleep?" Sakura asked

"In dad's case… for about 9 hours"

"Nine hours?" Jiraiya asked uncredously

"Or depending how much time he stays awake"

"Don't worry, we will stay with him" Naruto assured as he and Ryu sat down to rest "I don't think he can be so grumpy about waking up a little earlier"

"Just don't let anything wake him up" Gamakichi said as he and the others left for the field where Naruto and Ryu had fought.

XOXOXOXOXO

In a volcanic terrain, a giant wolf ran towards a hare, trying to catch it. This wolf, however, was not a common wolf: he was another Wolf Dragon. His appearance was different from Ryu and Saiko's: he had fiery red fur with black paws, a few spots on his rear and a long bushy black tail. He had a light yellow jaw and underbelly, his ears were like Saiko's but smaller, and he had a small Mohawk on his head, much like Ryu's but it was black. His eyes were purple, and he had small spots on the front upper part of his eyes, they looked like eyebrows.

The Wolf Dragon panted heavily as he chased after the hare that tried to run away from his fangs. Finally steamed, he muttered something under his breath…

"You messed with the wrong Fire Wolf Dragon… _**Katon: Hi No Yoroi**_!" (N/A- Fire Armor)

The Fire Wolf Dragon was engulfed by flames and his speed increased. He jumped after the hare and finally caught it. The horrified hare squirmed in his grasp, but was soon was crushed by the predator's fangs. The flames engulfing the Wolf Dragon's body soon extinguished and he sat down to eat the half- toasted hare.

XOXOXOXOXO

Soon everyone was in the field, where Saiko and Sakura prepared to fight. Gamakichi was resting in the branch of a tree, wondering how Saiko would fight. Jiraiya and Tsunade were resting against a tree. Saiko and Sakura had a fighting position

"I will try not to hurt you very much…" Saiko said

"Just try it…" Sakura muttered

"Begin!" Jiraiya called

Saiko charged towards Sakura and tried to bite her various times, but she always avoided it. Sakura then made various handseals.

"_**Ninja Art: Okasho!**_ (A/N- Cherry Blossom Impact)" she yelled as she punched Saiko in the stomach.

The Earth Wolf Dragon fell backwards on his feet, however.

"What?" Sakura asked shocked

"Why is Saiko still on his feet?" Tsunade asked herself in shock

"Now it's my turn!" Saiko grinned "_**Doton: Jishin!**_ (A/N- Earthquake)"

Saiko hit the ground hardly with his front legs, and everything began to shake violently. Sharp, giant rocks shot out of the ground like stalactites at Sakura, who barely could avoid it. Soon she had cuts in all of her body.

"I'm not done yet!" Saiko said once again "_**Doton: Chikyu Kuroten**_ (A/N- Earth Sable)"

Saiko's tail turned into a sword made of chakra and sharp rocks. He ran towards Sakura and swinged his tail t her… but a wood log appeared in a puff of smoke instead.

"A Substitution Technique? I should have seen coming" Saiko thought to himself

"Okasho!" Sakura yelled as she punched the ground and it pulverized into tiny pieces by the excess shock and scattered towards Saiko like flower petals. The rock apparently crushed into Saiko, the dust flew up in the air

"What happened?" Tsunade asked

XOXOXOXOXO

Back at the camp, Naruto and Ryu had fallen asleep. Gamabunta, meanwhile, finally woke up and yawned. He noticed Gamatatsu was asleep cradled next to him. Bunta smiled as he wrapped his tongue around Gamatatsu carefully and placed him in his head. Ryu peered up his ears and opened his eyes slightly. His wound had healed about an hour ago, he hit Naruto with his tail

"Ow!" Naruto yelped

"Naruto, Gamabunta woke up… at least" Ryu whispered to him

"Oh…"

"Hey, where's Gamakichi?" the chief toad asked them

"Well, he's watching Sakura's test against Saiko along with Jiraiya and Tsunade"

"Test?"

"See, while you were asleep, we decided to start the initiation test for Naruto and Sakura. I fought Naruto, and he passed. However, I was to tired to fight Sakura, so Saiko is fighting with her right now"

"Really?"

"You should have seen it, Chief Toad! It was incredible! Ryu created a cyclone and even made his fangs become sharper and bigger with chakra!" Naruto explained excited

"Well, I hope I can still see how Saiko fights" Gamabunta added

"Alright let's go"

They headed where Saiko and Sakura were fighting

XOXOXOXOXO

The dust started to clear, everyone seemed curious.

"Did Sakura win?" Gamakichi asked curiously

"I don't know…" Jiraiya answered as he tried to look into the dust

Sakura panted horrified, what if… if she had killed Saiko? No one could stand that, she didn't even want to think about it.

But when the dust cleared, Saiko wasn't there.

"What the-?" Jiraiya said uncredously

"Where is Saiko?" Tsunade asked

"He disappeared…" Gamakichi whispered

Just then, Naruto, Ryu and Gamabunta arrived. Gamatatsu was still sleeping on his father's head; Gamakichi looked at his father and then back at the battle field.

"What's happening?" Ryu asked

"Sakura used her Okasho on the ground to attack Saiko… but now he disappeared

"…"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confused

"He disappeared! He's not there, he's missing!" Tsunade explained

However, the dust now had cleared completely, and everyone noticed there was a hole in the ground where Saiko had been standing.

"A hole?" Jiraiya said

"He dig his way underground" Gamabunta muttered

Sakura looked around horrified, searching places where Saiko would come out. But when she looked, it was too late…: Saiko came out just from under her and tackled her in the stomach. Everyone gasped, except Ryu

"… Saiko used his _**Chikyu no Goon**_ (N/A- Roar of the Earth)" Ryu whispered

"Chikyu no Goon?" Tsunade asked curiously

"It's a Combined Earth Jutsu Saiko created. First he uses his _**Ana-Hori-Ki**_ (N/A- Earth Drill) to dig a tunnel and when he's underground, he uses his _**Chikyu no Uta**_ (N/A- Earth song) to find his opponent from underground."

"That's complicated…" Gamakichi muttered to himself

"yeah, it is? But it's useful on ambushes"

Meanwhile, Sakura spat blood and fell to the ground. Saiko stared at her from a few steps away, his ears peered forward. He had a worried look on his face, but he had learned not to show any signs of mercy on opponents until he was sure they were completely defeated. After a while, Sakura couldn't take the pain any longer and fainted.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled worried

Saiko was horrified; he hadn't wanted to hurt Sakura so much… everyone he included ran next to her side. Tsunade touched Sakura's chest and was relieved

"She's okay" she said "she just needs some rest"

"What have I done? I'm a shame" Saiko muttered to himself as he peered down his ears

"Shut up, Saiko!" Ryu scolded him "don't be exaggerate! You heard Tsunade, Sakura will be alright!"

"Wait a minute!" Naruto suddenly said "does this mean that Sakura failed?"

"…"

Nor Ryu or Saiko said something.

"What happens if she fails the test?" Gamakichi asked them curiously

"… That means that she…" Saiko whispered before stopping abruptly, he didn't want to say it.

"She what?" Naruto inquired further

"She's… not worthy…" Ryu answered regretfully

"What do you mean?"

"If she failed to defeat Saiko, that means she's not worthy to have a pact with us…"

"That's not fair!"

"I don't like that rule neither…" Saiko assured

"So you will break your pact with her?" Gamabunta asked

Ryu and Saiko looked at each other and then back at the group

"Would you excuse us for a minute?" Saiko asked

"Sure" Jiraiya answered as he and the rest took Sakura back to the camp

Saiko and Ryu remained alone

"So, what do we do? I like that girl, I don't want to break the pact with her" Saiko was the first one to speak

"Me neither…" Ryu added sadly "but you know what will happen if we don't follow the code"

"Well… the Council is quite… indisposed right now, so… I don't think they mind if we make an exception with Sakura…"

"But if they find out-!"

"Don't worry, if they suspect we can tell them she defeated me."

"You're suggesting that we should lie to the Supreme Council!"

"But Sakura will be crushed if we break the pact with her!"

Ryu looked down in thought, he didn't want to let Sakura down neither, but if the council fount out… no, he didn't want to think about it. After a while, he sighed

"Fine…" Ryu said

"Yeah!" Saiko cheered

"But if we get into trouble for this-!"

"Don't worry, I don't think the council is setting its mind on following the code right now. They are too worried about the Great Alpha right now"

"Alright, let's go back to the camp"

Both Wolf Dragons made their way back to the camp

XOXOXOXOXO

In a devastated badland, various giant wolves ran with a destination set in their minds. They apparently didn't mind the ashes that flew with their swift run or the destroyed dens they ran by. It was a painful look for them. When they arrived at a ruined large building made of rock walls, they rushed in and looked around in the dark hall. After a while, they ran forward the dark and ruined corridor until arriving to a large room. In the room there was a great table. Once in there, five creatures stepped from the shadows and sat behind the table. They were dragons.

The first dragon had clear dark blue scales with white underbelly and jaw, she had purple spikes arching over the back of her neck and white spots on her back, her eyes were light blue. Her tail was quite short, but very powerful. She wore a blue armor with the shape of water currents.

The second dragon had fiery red scales, a slim body, black legs and a long tail. A large black mohawk lied on his head and a flame-like spike was sticked to his tail, his underbelly and jaw were light yellow, and his eyes were light red he wore the same armor the last dragon wore, but his armor was red and it was shaped like flames.

The third dragon was light brown with large patches of a darker tone of brown in all of his body. His armor was, oddly, of a purple color and had long and sharp shape, his tail was thick and scaly, his underbelly was light yellow an his eyes were of a cake brown.

The fourth dragon was quite sleek and slimmer than the rest. His scales were metallic silver with black underbelly, jaw and the down part of his long, whip-like tail. His eyes were light gray, his jaws were notable outside his mouth, he had horns sprouting on his head and they pointed back. His armor was light sky blue and it was shaped like wind breezes, his neck was long and slim.

The fifth and final dragon was completely black, except for purple markings around his eyes. His horns were quite curved, and he had spikes arching down his back and to the tip of his tail. His armor was a deep grayish purple and it was shaped like the moon, his claws were dark gray and his eyes were light purple.

From the three Wolf Dragons that came in there wasn't much to say. The first Wolf Dragon had golden fur with lighter tone underbelly, a spiky hair in his head and a line running down his body. His tail was quite sleek and it his ears were pointy. The second Wolf Dragon was light brown with dark green ears and tail, which were shaped like leaves. Her eyes were dark brown, and her fangs weren't as sharp as the others'. The third Wolf Dragon had pure white fur, the back of his neck; legs and the tip of his tail were silver. He had small ears, a large blue Mohawk with a long sideburn, a deep purple mark was painted around his golden eyes. He had more fur than the others, as he was raised and born for the cold and snowy mountains he used to live in.

"So, what did the Snake Man say?" the red dragon asked

"He said he will keep the Great Alpha so we won't betray him" the white Wolf Dragon answered

"That wasn't part of the deal!" the brown dragon growled

"But what other choice do we have?" the silver and black dragon hissed

"Did he order any other thing?" the black dragon asked

"He said that we must execute those who do not agree with his demands" the green and brown Wolf Dragon answered

"But… that would mean…" the blue dragon whispered in horror

"Yes…" the red dragon added sadly "we must execute Ryu and the others…"

"But they are the strongest warriors we have!" the golden Wolf Dragon said in disbelief

"But the Snake Man will kill the Great Alpha if we don't follow his orders" the brown dragon reminded him

"Kaminaru, Kusa, Mo!" the black and Silver Dragon called the three Wolf Dragons respectively

Kaminaru, the Golden Wolf Dragon, stepped forward to see the silver and black dragon directly.

"Yes, Wind Alpha?" he asked

"You and Mo go in search of them and bring them back" the Wind Alpha ordered him

"Yes!" Mo, the White Wolf Dragon cheered in his mind, he had been waiting for a chance like this.

"Kusa!" the red dragon called for the brown and green Wolf Dragon

"What is it, Fire Alpha?" Kusa asked

"You shall go and spread the word to the tribes that all those who do not follow The Snake Man's orders shall be executed" he ordered, but he had a pained look in his face

The Earth Alpha and the Water Alpha, the brown and blue dragons respectively, stared at the Fire Alpha, as if knowing it was painful for him to say those words. Well, it was painful for ALL of them to do that to their tribes. But… it was about the Great Alpha's sake… the Shadow Alpha the black dragon, looked at Kaminaru and Mo

"_**Baton: Kage no kōtsū kikan!**_ (N/A-Shadow Style: Shadow Transportation)" he yelled as his eyes turned purple and a portal made of shadows opened. Kaminaru and Mo looked at each other before nodding and going right into the portal. Kusa, meanwhile, bowed to the Five Alphas and took her leave.

XOXOXOXOXO

A black hole merged in the air, Kaminaru and Mo stepped out of it before it closed. They were right in front of Konohagakure

"Why did the Shadow Alpha send us here?" Mo asked confused

"Remember what we heard about the boy who defeated Shukaku, he lives here. Knowing Ryu, he will ask his help. If we are lucky, he should already be here. We will defeat him and take him back to Siryo with us" Kaminaru answered

"Good point, but… no one has seen a Wolf Dragon in centuries. What will the people of this village do if we just walk in like anything? Won't they try to attack us?"

"Not if we maintain a low profile."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't forget people DON'T know what's the difference between a Wolf Dragon and a dog. Maybe we could pass unnoticed if we… you know, act as dogs."

Mo couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh

"But to be down at the dogs' level?" he asked quite displeased at the idea

"Well, unless you want to be chased around by angry mob of shinobi from this village, e have no other choice" Kaminaru said

"Alright…"

Both walked into the village

XOXOXOXOXO

Sakura finally woke up, her stomach hurt a lot. She looked around and saw Naruto and Tsunade were looking at her.

"You finally woke up" Naruto said relieved

"What… what happened?" Sakura asked

"Saiko defeated you with his Chikyu no Goon" Tsunade answered

"What…? Does that mean I failed the test?"

"Well… Came Ryu's voice who walked and sat next to Naruto "we decided to make an… exception for you"

"Really?"

"We will get into trouble for this, but… we have decided not to break your pact with us"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sakura said happily as she hugged Ryu, much to his dismay

"Uh… Sakura, not in public please…" Ryu muttered

"Oh, sorry…" she apologized

"It's okay"

"Well, who do we look for now?" Jiraiya asked

"Calcifer" Saiko answered

"Calcifer?" Gamakichi asked

"Unfortunately…" Ryu muttered in low voice

"What did you say?" Tsunade asked him

"Nothing…"

"Calcifer is a Fire Wolf Dragon" Saiko continued "he has dominion over the Fire, but he is quite… bad-tempered"

"What do you mean? Sakura asked

"He gets angry at the least provocation and is very prideful: one jab at his ego and he attacks you with fangs and claws. He even has the bad habit of engulfing himself in flames when he gets angry"

"That sure is to have a volcanic temper" Jiraiya chuckled

"Well, shall we go?"

"Not yet" Gamakichi said

Gamabunta, meanwhile, was resting against a tree holding his youngest son in his arms. Gamatatsu yawned and looked at his father

"Daddy, I'm hungry." Was the first thing he said

"Just a little longer…" Bunta replied softly

"Well, can we go now?" Jiraiya asked

Gamakichi climbed on Ryu's back, Gamabunta laced Gamatatsu on his head

"Hold on tight" he told him

Gamatatsu did as told.

"well, let's go" Naruto grinned as everyone jumped off and jumped away from tree to tree.


	10. The Encounter

Howling Dragon

Chapter 10- The Encounter

Shizune was altered when the two Wolf Dragons entered Tsunade's office and demanded to see her.

"Lady Tsunade's not here…" she told them fearfully

"Anyway, we are looking for a Wind Wolf Dragon called Ryu" Kaminaru told her

"Ryu? He already came here…"

"And where's he?" Mo asked

"He's left with Naruto, Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, Sakura, The Chief Toad and his children…"

"What? And where did he go?"

"I don't know… they said something about finding Ryu's friends…"

"Oh, crap!"

"Let's go" Kaminaru said as he and Mo left the tower and headed towards the gates

"What do we do now?" Mo asked "we are too late, Ryu has already been here, and we don't have any idea of where he could have gone!"

"We should try to find something that contains his scent, and track him down" Kaminaru answered

"And how to you expect to-? OW!"

Mo growled in pain as he lifted his front right paw and saw a piece of broken glass had stuck in it.

"Damn it!" he growled

"Let me help you"

Kaminaru checked the broken glass and quickly took it away, Mo howled in pain. Then he smelled the air.

"Wait a minute… that piece of glass… it has a familiar smell" he said

"Familiar smell…? You mean Ryu's smell?" Kaminaru asked

"It must, because it smells like him" Mo replied

"What are we waiting for?"

Both Wolf Dragons smelled the glass the best as they could. They smelled, absorbing the smell as much as they could, memorizing it the best as they could. When they were done, they smelled the air and departed towards their new destination.

XOXOXOXOXO

The group kept jumping from tree to tree, trying to think for any placed where to start looking for Calcifer.

"Where do you think we could start looking?" Jiraiya asked

"Well, Calcifer is a Fire Wolf Dragon, so I guess we should think of hot and volcanic places" Saiko suggested

"I don't know any place…" Naruto added

"What about Hitamura Village?" Sakura asked

"What?" Gamakichi asked as he grabbed tightly on Ryu's fur

"It's a village that lies in a volcanic terrain; it's located in the borders of the Fire country with the Wind country."

"I have heard of it…" Tsunade whispered

"It's settled then. If I were Calcifer, and luckily I'm not, I would go there" Ryu said

"Judging by the tone of your voice, I'd guess you and Calcifer don't get along, right?" Gamabunta asked

"… alright, I admit it. Calcifer and I never got along at all"

"At all? You guys hate each other!" Saiko added "you compete for the smallest thing. You even compete on reaching a place!"

"Alright, alright, Calcifer and I don't get along, we fight all the time, we always try to kill each other, satisfied?" Ryu asked Saiko irritated

"Well, that's better"

"Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom" Gamatatsu told his father

"I can't believe it!" Jiraiya exclaimed "why didn't you just say that before?"

Gamabunta sighed and landed on the ground, he placed his son in the ground with his tongue. Gamatatsu hopped behind a bush to do his necessities. The others soon landed close, waiting for the little toad to be finished.

XOXOXOXOXO

The Fire Wolf Dragon from before was resting on the branch of a nearby tree, licking his fangs to wipe the blood of the hare away. He was tired, and wondering what to do next. He couldn't just stay like that for the rest of his life; he had a homeland, he had a tribe, and those were in danger right now, but… what could he possibly do in his current situation? He alone against the Snake Man would be a stupid, if not suicidal, idea. He unallowed himself to tremble at the idea of facing his giant snakes; he had seen how many of his comrades perished in trying to fight them back. That moment, that doomed moment…

_*flashback*_

_He watched in horror as the fire consumed the trees and many pups and female Fire Wolf Dragons ran for their lives. The males, on the other hand, tried to hold back the giant snakes with their flamethrowers, but they were no match for them. One of the snakes sent many Fire Wolf Dragons flying to their deaths, while another one hit the ground with its tail and killed many others. Finally, the Fire Wolf Dragon charged towards one of the snakes and coated himself in flames, but the snake hit him with its tail and sent him flying. He crashed against a tree as his flame armor extinguished, he felt terrible. Every muscle and bone hurt, it pained him even to breathe, after a while he saw black holes in his vision. Finally, the Fire Wolf Dragon lost consciousness. _

_*end flashback*_

The Fire Wolf Dragon twitched his tail in irritation, just to remember that made him feel terrible. After he had woken up, the fire had already extinguished and his comrades were dead, all the life that had once been there had left. He shaked his head and jumped off from the tree branch to find another place to sleep.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Are you already finished?" Gamakichi asked his little brother annoyed, ignoring his father's glare "it's for today, you know"

"Gamakichi…" Gamabunta scolded his son

"Oh, come on, Bunta! Who takes about 20 minutes in going to the bathroom?" Jiraiya asked

"Well, if you think that's a lot of time, imagine us" Saiko told him

"What do you mean?"

"See, we first have to sniff to find a place that hasn't been marked yet"

"Marked?" Naruto asked confused

"See, canids have the tendency to mark their territory. If we pee on a place that has already been marked, you know what I mean, we would be insulting the creature that marked the place, so we have to look a free-of-mark place" Ryu explained

"…"

"See, it's like when a dog pees on a tree. If another dog comes and pees there, the dog that originally peed there will attack him because he was ignoring the mark" Saiko explained

"Hey, Saiko, don't confuse the boy!" Ryu said

"Oh, I got it!" Naruto exclaimed

"…really...?" Ryu asked him annoyed

"Don't worry, that's the way he is. You have to dumb down an explanation so Naruto can understand it" Sakura explained

Suddenly, two furred creatures came out of the bushes and growled at the group, bristling their fur. Saiko and Ryu recognized them immediately

"Kaminaru? Mo?" Saiko asked

"yeah, long time no see" Ryu added

"…"

"… sorry…." Kaminaru muttered as he tackled Ryu down, Mo did the same with Saiko

"What the-?" Jiraiya exclaimed

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked the two attackers angrily

"What did you two do?" Gamabunta asked Ryu and Saiko

"That's the very same question we want to ask them!" Ryu answered

"Sorry, we have strict orders to take you back to Siryo for your execution." Mo said

Everyone's eyes went wide open when they heard this

"what?" Ryu asked uncredously

"That can't be! What did we do?" Saiko asked confused and shocked

"The Council has decided to obey the Snake man"

"What? You have to be kidding me!" Ryu exclaimed

"You know he has the Great Alpha captive, what else can we do?" Kaminaru answered with a pained look in his face "and we must execute those who do not agree to follow the Snake Man's orders"

"Orochimaru…" Jiraiya muttered enraged

"But we're going to rescue the Great Alpha!" Saiko exclaimed angrily

"And do you know where the Snake Man has him? do you know how to fight the Snake Man?" Mo asked them coldly

"We already have fought him before" Naruto replied angrily

"Yeah, we can handle him" Gamakichi said

"It's not about that! It's about the Great Alpha; we can't risk to lose him!" Kaminaru replied with an angry glare and bared his fangs "so, you two like it or not, you're coming back to Siryo!"

Just then, Gamatatsu came out of the bushes and looked at Mo and Kaminaru

"Daddy, who are those doggies?" he asked his father curiously

"Prepare to fight" Tsunade called

"Gamakichi, Gamatatsu, go and find a place to hide" Bunta ordered his sons

"But pops, I want to fight!" Gamakichi told his father expectantly

"No, it's too dangerous."

"But pops-"

"Now!"

Despite his anger, Gamakichi and his little brother hopped away.

"_**Raiton: Kaminari no Torikumu**_! (N/A- Thunder Armor)" Kaminaru yelled as he charged towards Saiko as he charged electricity in his fur and eventually engulfed himself in electricity. Ryu reacted and pushed Saiko out of the way, but Kaminaru instead kept charging towards Naruto

"Naruto! Watch out!" Sakura called

"Naruto, use your _**Ookami fomu**_! (N/A- Wolf Form)" Ryu quickly ordered

"What's that?" Naruto asked horrified

"Think in… transforming!"

"Transforming?"

Suddenly, Naruto fell to the ground and began to morph: he grew fur, wolf ears and tail, a muzzle, and eventually was forced into a quadruped state. Eventually, Naruto was human no more; he had turned into a Wolf Dragon. His fur was orange with a light yellow underbelly, legs and face, his eyes were blue, he had blue lines on his back. Naruto, however, still kept his spiky hair on his head. Naruto reacted instinctively and avoided Kaminaru's attack, much to everyone's shock

"What- what happened to me?" Naruto asked horrified

"It's the ability I talked you about!" Ryu explained as he avoided an attack from Mo

"What about me?" Sakura asked as she threw Kunais at Kaminaru, who avoided them

"You also can do it, but your fur would be different in color and markings."

"_**Suiton: Teppodama**_!" Bunta yelled as he shot several water bullets at Mo and Kaminaru, who couldn't avoid them.

"Now it's my turn! _**Katon: Endan**_!" Jiraiya yelled as he shot fire bullets. Kaminaru and Mo avoided them, but one of the bullets burned Mo's back leg.

"OW!" Mo yelped in pain and looked at his burned leg.

Gamakichi stared at the battlefield from the hiding spot he and Gamatatsu were in. he felt the desire to go and battle with them… but he also knew his father would be furious if he disobeyed him… Gamakichi found himself with a strong predicament: his desire to fight against his father's anger. And he knew what had happened to the last person that made his father angry… only its hat was found. Finally, Gamakichi couldn't stand the pressure anymore and went out of the hiding spot, leaving a confused and scared Gamatatsu in there. Mo was shocked when the little toad gripped to his back and tried to knock him off his back

"GAMAKICHI!" Bunta yelled angrily at his son

"Get off me!" Mo yelled

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked his toad friend shocked and afraid for his life

"Gamakichi, let go off him! He can ki-!" Saiko yelled before Kaminaru advantaged of his worry about Gamakichi and attacked him with his Thunder Armor. Saiko groaned angrily as he tried to stand up. Finally, Mo threw Gamakichi off his back, got hold of his jacket and threw him hard against a tree, much to Gamabunta's horror.

"Gamakichi!" he yelled horrified as he swiftly jumped next to his son. Ryu got angry and glared at Mo

"Mo, how could you?" he asked him angrily "he's just a child, you know!"

"He attacked me by surprise!" Mo replied

"_**KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU**_!" Naruto yelled angrily as he made various handseals and shadow clones appeared next to him. The clones threw kunais at the two Wolf Dragons, who couldn't avoid. Then other clones kicked them into the air, and other clones kicked them higher. Finally, the original Naruto kicked both Mo and Kaminaru down. Both hit the ground hard, after a while they lost consciousness. Naruto's clones disappeared and he ran along with the others next to Gamakichi, who was now unconscious in his father's arms. Gamatatsu got out of his hiding spot and ran to his father afraid, then hugged him tightly.

"Daddy!" Gamatatsu cried as tears streamed down his face. His father sighed and picked him up also. Tsunade touched Gamakichi's chest to look for his pulse.

"… He's alive." She said relieved "just unconscious, he will wake up in a few hours."

"I mean… he just went and gripped to Mo's fur?" Saiko asked confused

"In fact, who would want to do such a thing without thinking it twice?" Sakura asked worried

Gamabunta didn't say anything; he just stared worried at his two sons: Gamakichi was hurt and unconscious while Gamatatsu was scared. He also felt angry; Gamakichi had disobeyed him intentionally… he felt guilty, thinking he should have expected this from him, but… he didn't want to distrust his own son, his heir… after a while, Bunta sighed.

"Guys, we should get going" Jiraiya suggested

"Yeah, if those two wake up, it will be hard to lose them again" Ryu said "try not to leave any footprints"

Everyone got ready; Naruto volunteered to take Gamakichi while Gamatatsu went their father's head. After everything was set, the group once again departed to Hitamura village via tree jumping.

XOXOXOXOXO

In a dark and black burned forest, Kusa galloped towards a nearby cave. She went in and was met by several Wolf Dragons that looked like Kaminaru, but their fur coats had different tones of yellow and golden. They stared at the Forest Wolf Dragon with curiosity

"I have a message from the Council" Kusa announced

"What is it?" one of the Wolf Dragons asked

"… They have decided to follow the Snake Man's orders at least until they figure out what to do about the Great Alpha"

There was an angry murmur among the pack of Thunder Wolf Dragons

"But… to follow that cretin's orders?" a female asked

"And those who oppose will be declared as treason and executed"

"That's completely unfair!" another Wolf Dragon exclaimed

"Has the council lost their minds?" another murmured

"You perfectly know that the Snake Man will kill the Great Alpha if his orders are not followed" Kusa reminded them

The Wolf Dragons discussed the matter and finally came to a conclusion

"…very well them" the oldest said

Meanwhile, just outside the cave, a pup that looked exactly like Kaminaru except that his eyes were blue instead of gray and he was much smaller, being the size of an adult cat. He overheard the announcement made by Kusa and his eyes went open wide.

"… I have to warn Ryu-sensei" he muttered as he ran away

XOXOXOXOXO

After a long time after having set for Hitamura, the group decided to rest for the night in a nearby cave. The group has settled there a while ago, it was getting dark already. Jiraiya was trying to lit a fire, Tsunade was tending to Gamakichi. Saiko was doing sentry duty while Sakura and Naruto had fallen asleep a while ago. Ryu was thinking of a way to confuse Kaminaru and Mo: they would eventually wake up and track them down again… he thought knew they couldn't run away forever; they had to find a way that Kaminaru and Mo wouldn't be able to track them down again…

"But… how did they track us down? Did they get my scent or Saiko's? And how?" Ryu was asking to himself

Gamatatsu had fallen asleep and was resting next to Sakura. Gamabunta, meanwhile, was too worried to even get sleepy. He couldn't help to stop thinking about Gamakichi's attitude… why did he act like that? Why didn't he listen to him?

"Don't worry, he will be fine" Tsunade assured him

"Thanks, but…" Bunta sighed "I don't know how to talk to him…"

"It's normal at his age… adolescents tend to be rebel sometimes…"

"He misses his mother so much… as I do…"

"…"

Without warning, a memory came back into Bunta´s mind…

_*flashback*_

_Gamalyra was in labor, Bunta was very nervous. They had used the shrinking technique during all of her pregnancy so there wouldn't be any trouble during childbirth… but right now, there was a problem: the hadn't gotten a doctor, and Bunta would have to help his wife himself. Despite his nerves, Gamabunta felt happy inside: he would be father in a few minutes._

"_Come on, Lyra! You can do it!" he told his wife soothingly_

"_Bunta, it's not as easy as it seems, you know!" Gamalyra replied back panting painfully_

"_Everything will be okay, I promise… now, push!"_

_Lyra pushed with all her forces and let out a piercing scream… she panted heavily. Gamabunta felt about fainting ,but he would not budge: he was not going to leave his wife in a moment like this, though he could see the baby's head. His heart skipped a beat_

"_Lyra, the baby's crowning!" he said excitedly_

"_can you see him?" Gamalyra asked her husband _

"_I can see his head, just one more push."_

_Gamalyra smiled painfully: she was eager to meet her baby._

"_Come on, dear, one more time… three, two, one, PUSH!"_

_Lyra screamed once again in one final push… a baby cry was heard. The baby was in his father's arms, covered with blood, fluid and crying angrily. He was orange with purple markings. Gamabunta cut the cord with his tsuba carefully and showed the newborn to his wife. Gamalyra was breathing heavily, but she felt happy when she saw her baby… her husband handed it over, the baby kept crying, he was cold._

"_My little one…" Lyra whispered with happiness and tiredness_

"_How will we call him?" Gamabunta asked eager, something that wasn't usually heard in his voice_

"_I don't know… I didn't think on it now"_

_Gamalyra handed the baby to her husband, knowing he also deserved to hold him. After Gamabunta wiped his son with a towel and wrapped him in a blanket, the baby sneezed and opened his eyes… _

"_Lyra, he's got your eyes…" Bunta smiled_

"_But I think he looks more like you, dear…" Lyra replied with a warm smiled_

_When the baby's vision cleared and saw his father for the first time, he laughed and held his arms up to him._

"_My little Gamakichi…" Gamabunta whispered to his son smiling, already naming him_

"_Gamakichi? It's a beautiful name…" Lyra said weakly once again as she fell asleep_

_Bunta, meanwhile, gave the bottle to Gamakichi. The newborn Toad sucked the milk hungrily, and after a while grabbed his father's finger. _

"_Hi, son" The Chief Toad smiled to his baby _

_Gamakichi just whimpered and struggled slightly. After a while, his eyes started to shutter. Bunta placed the bottle away, Gamakichi yawned and snuggled deeply into his father's embrace and fell asleep._

_*end flashback*_

Gamabunta smiled slightly with the memory, he loved to remember it… when Gamakichi was born, he used to like him more. He suddenly heard a groan and looked at Gamakichi, who had just woken up.

"Gamakichi…" Bunta whispered

Gamakichi looked at his father filled with fear; would he be angry? Was he going to punish him? But after a while, Gamakichi realized his father was not angry, at least not for now.

"Pops…" he whispered

"Gamakichi, why did you do that back at the battle?" Gamabunta asked his son, expecting an answer

"I wanted to fight…"

"Gamakichi, you know you could have died?"

"What? I only hit a tree! Don't exaggerate!"

"I'm not exaggerating; I just want to know what's wrong with you!"

"You would have realized already if you paid me attention for at least two seconds!"

"Gamakichi, I'm the Chief Toad. I don't have as much time for you and your brother as I should, but…"

"Hold on a second, pops! The only thing you do back home all day is your paperwork! Everything else apparently escapes your interest! You never let me fight!"

"And do you know why I don't let you fight? How hard is to be a parent? Do you have any idea of how much it hurts to see how your eldest son is almost killed by an opponent while you could do nothing about it?"

"but I'm GROWING UP! I don't need you to watch over me!"

Gamabunta felt as if someone had stabbed his heart; he couldn't believe what Gamakichi just said.

"Besides, since mom died you don't have a bloody sense of humor!" Gamakichi complained once again

"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" Bunta almost yelled to his son

"Stop fighting!" Sakura pleaded them, having woke up when the two Toads had started to argue "you are just hurting each other!"

Gamakichi looked at his father, and he did the same. Sakura was right, but they just didn't understand each other. They decided to save their argue for another time, and both went to sleep as Saiko kept watching around for any intruder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

_Just to make something clear: I already know Toads are oviparous creatures and they do not drink milk… but it's my story, isn't it? Besides, I wanted to make some… emotional moments…_


	11. Calcifer

Howling Dragon

Chapter 11- Calcifer

When morning came, Saiko was the first to wake up. The others were still asleep; Gamatatsu was cradled in his father's arms. Naruto was sleeping next to Ryu, who was curled up. Sakura went out of the cave and saw Saiko had fallen asleep while guarding the perimeter.

"Saiko?" Sakura called for him softly

"…uh?" Saiko yawned as he looked at Sakura "what is it?"

"I wanted to ask you some things… about you and the others…"

"Sure"

"Since when do you know each other?"

"See, we graduated from academy when we had 1 year old, which in human years is a decade…"

"Academy? You mean ninja academy?"

"Almost, except that we are taught in a different way"

"What do you mean?"

"See, in academy first we are taught three things: Tribal Jutsu, Taijutsu and Supervivence. In Tribal Jutsu we learn to control our Elemental Chakra and Jutsu depending on which tribe we are from. Out Taijutsu is different from the human Taijutsu, as we are quadruped. We are trained physically and develop our stamina, in all fours. Finally, in Supervivence, we are taught to use our animal instincts in a more sentient way than common wolves."

"Wow, that's complicated"

"Anyway, in Wolf Dragons the teams consist of five members."

"FIVE?"

"Yeah… but first I think I should tell you more about of our Shinobi structure"

"Great!"

"Mind if we join you?" a voice asked

Saiko and Sakura looked at the entrance of the cave and saw Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade standing there. Ryu also came out of the cave

"And the Chief Toad?" Sakura asked

"He's still sleeping" Jiraiya answered

"Saiko was telling me about their culture"

"Great!"

"Let's hear it!" Naruto said excited

Everyone sat in front of Saiko, while Ryu sat next to him.

"As I was saying, we graduated from the academy when we were 1 year old" Saiko continued "our graduation consists in testing what we learned. In the Tribal Jutsu, our skills and synchronization with our Elemental Chakra are tested. In Taijutsu a race is held to see who have proper stamina. Finally, in Supervivence we are left in the wild to see if we can survive one day without any signs of civilization and just our instincts. If we pass the three tests, we officially graduate" Saiko explained

"When we graduate, we are given a special sword belt to show symbolize we are warriors of Siryo" Ryu said with pride "the most common color is orange, but there are other colors like green, dark purple, golden and the Great Alpha's is indigo.

"And why don't you wear them?" Tsunade asked

"Unfortunately, when Orochimaru attacked Siryo, we lost our weapons."

Ryu peered down his ears with embarrassment, much like Saiko.

"What where you saying about your team…?" Sakura asked once again

"Oh, that's right. Our team consisted of five members: Me, Ryu, Calcifer, Yoshiko and Rayver." Saiko explained once again "four of us were from four of the Five Main Tribes, while one, Yoshiko, was from the Ice Tribe. We were trained by Yang, the Spirit of the Sea"

"Yang?" Jiraiya asked "like the Yin and Yang?"

"Exactly! He was one of the Great Alpha's two most trusted advisors, the other being his mate, Yin"

"Why are they named like that?" Naruto asked

"Because Yin is completely white with a big black teardrop mark in her forehead while Yang is black and his mark is white. They both are river Dragons, but they can take the shape of wolves" Ryu explained

"As I was saying, Yang trained us. In fact, we were the strongest team in that time. We were even known as The Genso Ookami (N/A- Elemental Wolves) because of our great skills in Elemental Jutsu." Saiko continued

"… well, I hate to ruin the story time, but we should get going before those two Wolf Dragons catch up with us" Jiraiya suggested as he stood up

"That's reasonable, besides those two are very fast" Ryu said

Everyone stood up and went back to the cave to get ready and wake the Toads up.

XOXOXOXOXO

Kaminaru groaned painfully and barely stood up, Mo however hadn't the strength to stand up.

"What do we do know?" he asked

"I don't know… they know now our purpose… we will have to track them down once again." Kaminaru replied

"And how are we supposed to do that? Surely Ryu's smell should have vanished by now"

"How much time were we unconscious?"

"I think one entire night, and they should be far away now"

"You know we can't go back to Siryo without them"

"But you heard them: they are going to rescue the Great Alpha… why don't we let them do it?"

"What sense would it have? They don't even know where he is held captive…"

"And we don't even know how will they rescue him, anyway"

"What we know is that they are looking for their other teammates. So far, they already found Saiko, which leaves only Calcifer, Rayver and Yoshiko. If we find one of those three, we made it. We can take them back to Siryo"

"But the problem is their travelling companions… I feel bad about that poor Toad child…"

"You mean the small orange frog that gripped to your fur?"

"Exactly. I think he is the son of the Chief Toad"

"The Chief Toad? Are you talking of Lord Gamabunta?"

"Exactly"

"… I have an idea… but first, we need to track them down."

"… Very well…"

Mo and Kaminaru sniffed the air once again, but the scent was faint now. They nodded to each other before jumping from tree to tree to their destination.

XOXOXOXOXO

The group had departed about half an hour ago, Gamakichi was still weak, and so Ryu had to jump fast but softly. The trees each time seemed greener and with more leaves, which only happened when they grew in volcanic terrain.

"I smell ash…" Ryu said "we must be close"

"You know, we should eat something when we arrive" Naruto suggested "I'm hungry, I'm dying for some Ramen"

"What's Ramen?" Saiko asked

Everyone except Ryu looked at Saiko with surprised eyes.

"You don't have Ramen in Siryo?" Tsunade asked

"No, in Siryo we only eat meat like hare, deer and moose, but I heard the Ice Tribe eats Reindeer." Ryu answered

"Man, I don't imagine life without Ramen" Naruto commented

"Back at home we eat bugs" Gamakichi added

"Bugs?" Saiko asked

"Lyra's cooking was exceptional… no one cooked like her…" Gamabunta added, though his face saddened a bit when he mentioned _her_

"I'm getting tired; we have been jumping for a long time…" Saiko said

"You're right, we are almost there"

After another half hour, the group finally arrived to the entrance to the village. There were statues of dragons at the entrance, and the volcano was a few meters away from the village. The houses were tall, like having two floors. The curtains were fiery red, while the roofs were a flaming orange. People wore clothes that had flame designs and various tones of yellow, orange and crimson.

"Wow, what a fiery-themed village…" Jiraiya commented

"What are we waiting for? We won't find Calcifer just standing here…" Saiko said as he was about to go into the village, but Tsunade stopped him

"Wait, I think you should hide with Ryu"

"What? Why?" Ryu asked

"Didn't you say that no one has seen a Wolf Dragon in centuries? Don't you think they will try to hunt you down?" Jiraiya said

"Good point"

"Alright, we will hide in the forest while you get some information about Calcifer's whereabouts"

"We're staying too" Gamabunta added

"What? Pops!" Gamakichi complained

"Don't forget you disobeyed me, I have to punish you somehow"

"But pops, can't that wait till we go back home?"

"We don't even know when we will go back home! So, you like it or not, you are staying here!"

Gamakichi grunted and crossed his arms angrily

"alright, we will be back in a few hours" Naruto announced as he, Sakura, Jiraiya and Tsunade left.

XOXOXOXOXO

The Thunder Wolf Dragon pup ran as fast as he could, his destination already set in his mind. He HAD to warn his sensei; no matter he would get into trouble for this. However, he suddenly stopped and peered his ears forward; he had heard a sound nearby. He looked around and noticed there was a Fire Wolf Dragon pup about his age hiding in a burned tree hole. He had dark crimson red fur with orange underbelly, jaw and undertail. He had a line of spots running down his body, pointy ears, a bushy tail and gray eyes.

"Beau?" the Thunder Wolf pup asked "are you following me?"

"… uh… hi, Pan…" was the only thing Beau replied

"Answer me, were you following me?"

"Alright, I was following you…"

"Why?"

"I was curious about where were you going"

"I'm going to warn Ryu sensei"

"Can I go with you?"

Pan, the blonde Wolf Dragon pup, just sighed frustrated

"I don't think it's a good idea, you might get into trouble. Why don't you go back home?"

"Home? What home? The Snake Man took away everything! I have no home anymore! And though I had, no one would be waiting for me, anyway!" Beau replied at the verge of tears.

Pan felt sad and at the verge of tears too, he himself had also lost his home… and his mother… Pan sighed sadly

"You're right, I'm sorry. If you want to come, I just hope you can keep up" he finally said

"And how are you going to find Ryu-Sama?" Beau asked

"You remember what we were taught about the Shizunpotaru (N/A- Season Portal)?"

"Yeah…"

"If we get there, we can port to where Ryu Sensei is"

"Alright, let's go before someone discovers us

The two Wolf Dragon pups ran towards the heart of Siryo, where the Shizunpotaru was located.

XOXOXOXOXO

Naruto, Sakura, Jiraiya and Tsunade were eating ramen at a bar in the heart of the village. They had no luck finding out about Calcifer, as no one had seen a "dog bigger than usual".

"Man, what a cursed luck…" Naruto muttered

"Don't tell me" Jiraiya said as he ate some Ramen

"I told you we should have been more specific" Sakura added

"And what else we could say?" Tsunade asked "we don't even know how Calcifer looks like"

"All we know is that he must be the very big and has an unusual color pattern" Naruto added

"You know…" the tender of the bar said "if you are looking a dog like that, you should go to Honoo no Yona (N/A- Fiery) plains"

"Honoo no Yona?" Tsunade asked

"It's grassland near here that leads to the Volcano. Some of the villagers assure to have seen a giant, red coated dog hunt there"

"Really, that's the dog we are looking for!" Naruto said happily

"Fine, we will go tell the others and then go there" Jiraiya concluded as he kept eating Ramen along with Naruto

XOXOXOXOXO

Meanwhile, the others were hiding in a clear of the forest. Ryu and Saiko were eating hares they had hunted a while ago, while Gamatatsu was asleep next to his father. Bunta looked at Gamakichi, who was resting a few steps away. He decided to try and talk to him.

"… So… Gamakichi, are you okay?" he asked

Gamakichi, however, didn't even answer. Gamatatsu woke up and looked at his father

"Daddy, how was mommy like?" he asked his father curiously

Both Gamabunta and Gamakichi looked at Gamatatsu solemnly; they knew Gamalyra had died when he was just a baby, so it was normal he didn't remember her… he hadn't known the grief they had felt when she had died.

"… She was sweet, smart, beautiful…" Bunta answered his youngest son with a slight smile

"Where is she?"

"… Playing poker with your grandpa…"

"Where is grandpa?"

At this point, Gamabunta was at the verge of tears, but unallowed himself to cry. It pained him a lot to remember Lyra wasn't with them anymore, but he couldn't leave his son with the doubt.

"And how did she look like?" Gamatatsu asked once again

"Well, you inherited her appearance." Bunta answered him

"Really?"

"Gamakichi inherited her eyes"

"… Daddy, why don't I remember mommy?"

"You were just a baby; you were about 6 months old"

"… Pops…" Gamakichi finally said

"What is it?"

"… How did you meet mom?"

Gamabunta couldn't contain a slight smile

"I met her when we were about your age. We were in the academy; the others teased her because of her yellow skin, often calling her Banana." Bunta chuckled slightly when he mentioned her nickname "at first she thought I was a wimp-"

"What? Really, she thought you were a wimp?" Gamakichi asked in disbelief

"Yeah, but eventually we became friends. After some time, she was kidnapped by some Summons from the Snake Clan."

"Kidnapped?"

"Yeah. I was able to track them down and rescue her… and after that, we… we…"

"You what?" Gamatatsu asked

"… We kissed…"

"You never told us about THAT detail" Gamakichi added

Yeah… after I became the Chief Toad we married and… we conceived our first child…"

Gamakichi at this point looked at his father… he looked so happy in remembering that, he felt a bit bad… Naruto and the others arrived

"We found out something. Calcifer might be in Honoo no Yona plains" Naruto announced

"That suits him well" Saiko said

"Well, where are those plains located?" Ryu asked

"They're the only way to reach the volcano, so I guess we must go in the direction of the volcano"

"Alright, we should get going" Jiraiya said

Gamabunta stood up and placed Gamatatsu and Gamakichi in his head. Then the group headed towards the plains via Tree jumping.

"You know, we should tell you about something. Calcifer is very proud, and even the slightest provocation makes him angry, so you should watch what you say" Ryu said

"Oh, come on! He can't be so much temperamental!" Sakura added

"Really? You don't know him!" Saiko added "he once almost turned into an Earth Wolf Dragon barbecue just because I pissed off his head by accident!"

"Well, maybe… no, forget about it" Jiraiya said

"What were you going to say?" Tsunade asked

"That maybe he changed, but I don't think so"

"Exactly, Calcifer has remained the same temperamental and proud Fire Wolf Dragon over the years"

"We're almost there, guys, so keep your eyes open" Gamakichi announced as the trees ended in grassland that lead to the volcano. The grass was greener and more fertile than any of the other grassland they had seen due to the volcanic land. However, there was no sign of Calcifer anywhere

"Maybe he already left..." Sakura added

"I don't think so; his smell is in the air…" Ryu replied as he sniffed the air

"Well, he doesn't seem to be nearby" Naruto said

"We should split up and look around" Gamakichi suggested

"Good idea, but I think we should make pairs in case Mo and Kaminaru have caught up to us" Ryu continued

"What do you mean?"

"See, they should have already awakened, and they might have tracked us down like before"

"Good point" Gamabunta said, not wanting to remember those two

"Well, if you don't mind, I will make the pairs" Jiraiya said

"Alright" Naruto replied

"Fine: Sakura, you should go with Saiko. Ryu, you go with Naruto. Bunta, I suppose you will want to stay with your children"

"You guessed" Gamabunta replied

"Well, I guess Tsunade and I will go together…"

"Remember, Calcifer is a Fire Wolf Dragon, so he might use fire jutsu." Saiko explained "Chief Toad, I suppose you would have no trouble"

"Can we go already? I want to finish this as soon as possible…" Ryu muttered

The group finally splat up and went in different directions.

XOXOXOXOXO

The Fire Wolf Dragon peered his ears up as he caught a familiar smell… but he wasn't going to take conclusions before seeing who was the holder of the smell, it might well be the Snake Man… he stood up and peeked from the den he had been sleeping in for many days. He distinguished a boy with blonde spiky hair. He might work for the Snake Man, so he decided to be wary and attack when he got closer

XOXOXOXOXO

Naruto looked around for any signs of ash, red fur or any uncommon sound. Ryu was looking over at the volcano, trying to distinguish any signs of Red. Naruto looked the other way, hoping to find Calcifer… but out of sudden he felt jaws closing in his leg. He looked at his leg and was horrified to see there was a Fire Wolf Dragon biting his leg.

"Ryu! Help-!" Naruto could call for Ryu before the Wolf Dragon threw him. Ryu turned alarmed and saw Naruto was lying in the grass, his leg bleeding. When he saw who had attacked him, his eyes went wide open.

"Calcifer!" Ryu said

"Oh, no! Not you!" Calcifer, the Fire Wolf Dragon, replied frustrated too

"Do you know you just attacked Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Wha-? He is the so-called Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure?"

Naruto, meanwhile, could barely stand up. Ryu ran to his side and helped him to maintain on his feet. The wound Calcifer had made in his leg was bleeding slightly.

"Well, it would have been nice if you had told me he was with you!" Calcifer told Ryu angrily

"How was I supposed to tell you if you weren't even in MY SIGHT?" Ryu replied angrily also

"And where the heck have you been while I've scavenging for food?"

"That's the very same thing I wanted to ask you!"

"I ASKED FIRST!"

"AND WHAT?"

"Guys, knock it off!" Naruto called for both, "my leg is bleeding, remember?"

"Oh, that's right"

Ryu then helped Naruto walk back to the forest, not before looking at Calcifer

"Are you coming, or what?" he asked

"You don't have to tell me twice!" was Calcifer's angry reply as he accompanied Ryu and Naruto back to the forest

After a while, they got back to the forest. Everyone was already there, and looked surprised at Calcifer.

"Well, apparently you had better luck finding him that us" Jiraiya muttered surprised

"Hey, Calcifer, before you want to burn somebody to ashes, I tell you at once that they all are our allies" Ryu told the Fire Wolf Dragon

"I already noticed!" Calcifer replied angrily

"Wow, he sure looks scary…" Gamakichi whispered

"I heard you!"

Gamakichi hid behind his father

"Hey, calm down, Calcifer!" Saiko called

"You shut up!"

"Hey, you know, I'm starting to lose my self-control" Ryu told Calcifer angry

"You? Self-control? It's like saying Saiko is brave and strong!" Calcifer replied back angrily

"Look who talks!"

"What? Now you did it!"

"You moron!"

Sakura helped Naruto to walk to a nearby tree while everyone looked frustrated at Ryu and Calcifer

"Uh oh" Saiko muttered "here comes the storm"

"Just wait until I put my paws on you! I should kill you right here, right now for showing such disrespect!" Ryu hissed at Calcifer as he showed his fangs at him

"Kill me? You?" Calcifer asked in disbelief "HA! You wouldn't even kill a human!" Calcifer hissed back, showing his fangs also

"Do all Wolf Dragons fight like that?" Tsunade asked Saiko

"No, just those two" Saiko replied

"Well, at least he could survive without anyone to do everything for him!" Ryu said "that's expected from the red furred idiot!"

"Got something against red fur?" Calcifer snarled at him

"Well, it shows anger and aggressiveness. I don't know why Fire Wolf Dragons have red fur, that's why everybody says you guys are aggressive. If you want people to look at you without fear, you should have a bit of purple"

"ARE YOU CRAZY? PURPLE SHOWS ANY KIND OF SENSIBILITY AND KINDNESS! YOU WANT EVERYBODY TO THINK I'M A WEAKLING?" Calcifer screamed at Ryu

"IT'S BETTER THAN BEING AGGRESSIVE AND ANGRY-LOOKING!" Ryu screamed back

Calcifer glared at Ryu angrily, he glared right back

"Geez, you two are exactly alike…" Naruto muttered

"I'M NOTHING LIKE HIM!" both Ryu and Calcifer yelled at the same time. They both glared at each other again

"Don't copy me like that, you Wind Bag!" Calcifer yelled

"Why would I copy you? You were copying me, you Coal Breath!" Ryu yelled back

"What? I was _so_ not copying you!"

"Yes you were!"

"Not!"

"Were!"

"Not!"

"Were!"

"CUT IT OUT!" Saiko yelled at them both "you're acting like pups, I swear! Calcifer, you calm down and try to control your temper! Ryu, you try not being so… prideful as him!"

Calcifer muttered angrily, while Ryu grumbled something about 'we take the bother to look for Coal Breath and he doesn't even say thanks'.

"Hey, do something for yourself and try to get some purple" he told Calcifer

"I will if you get some red" was Calcifer's reply

Ryu and Calcifer jumped in separate ways to get something to eat, Saiko sighed relieved

"Do they fight all the time?" Sakura asked stunned

"They have done worst, even fight!" Saiko replied uncredously that his fellows couldn't pass five seconds without arguing or fighting.

"Ha! It's like seeing myself and Orochimaru back then…" Jiraiya chuckled before he became serious again

"_And they say I have such a rivalry with Manda…_" Gamabunta thought to himself

"Okay, what about we rest and decide who to find now?" Sakura suggested as she healed Naruto's leg

"Good idea, just try not to annoy Calcifer if you don't want to become a living barbecue. Or at least try not to keep Ryu and Calcifer together unless you want a storm in the middle of the night" Saiko told her as the group headed to a clear in the forest to set up a camp and plan their next move.


	12. A Long Night

Howling Dragon

Chapter 12- A Long Night

In the ruins of Siryo, Pan and Beau kept running a fast as they could. They didn't want to get caught by anyone, which was the last thing they needed. Sometimes they coughed because the ashes got into their nose and went into their lungs, but still the kept running. They needed to warn Ryu. Beau noticed something in one of the dunes of ash.

"Hey, Pan, look at that" he called

"What is it?" Pan asked

"I think there's something there…"

Beau got closer to the amount of ash and dug at the time he tried not to breathe the ashes. After a while, he found an orange belt with a big dagger attached to it. The big dagger was in a brown cover with light blue marks. The fold had the shape of a wind breeze, which meant the sword had the same shape.

"Hey! It's Ryu Sensei's sword-belt!" Pan exclaimed

"And there's more!"

Pan helped Beau dig more into the ash and this time they found another two sword-belts, one of the swords had great length and apparently the sword would have the shape of a flame, and the fold was dark brown with red marks. It was very heavy due to the weight of the sword. The other belt had a big fold, meaning the sword's tip maybe parted in two ways. The fold was dark brown with lighter tone marks.

"It's Calcifer-sama and Saiko-sama's sword-belts" Pan exclaimed

"I think we should take them with us" Beau suggested

"Good idea, they might need them."

"WOW! Calcy Sensei's sword weights a lot!"

"Let me lend you a paw"

Pan took Ryu's sword-belt while Beau had Saiko's sword-belt. Both decided to take Calcifer's sword-belt together. Then they continued their way, thought they could no longer run due to the weight of Calcifer's sword. But they were close to their destination anyway.

XOXOXOXOXO

The group had set up a camp. Calcifer and Ryu, however, hadn't returned yet, and it was night already. Sakura, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Naruto were eating some sausages they had brought. However, Gamatatsu, Gamakichi and their father were not carnivores, and couldn't eat sausages.

"What are we going to eat?" Gamakichi asked as he rubbed at his belly

"Daddy, I'm hungry" Gamatatsu told his father

"Don't worry, guys" Jiraiya told them "we bought you some Ramen"

"R-Ramen?" Gamabunta asked nervously

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked

"I… I have never eaten Ramen…"

"Well, unless you want to starve, Bunta, I'd suggest you to try it"

After thinking for a moment, Gamabunta finally nodded slowly. Sakura handed him a bowl of Ramen, the Chief Toad stared at it for a few moments before taking the needles and tasting a bit of the needles. Suddenly, he felt as if there was a party in his mouth.

"Not bad…" he whispered

"See? I told you!" Jiraiya snickered

"Pops, let me try!" Gamakichi told his father hungrily

"Don't worry, I have more here" Naruto said as he handed him another bowl of Ramen. Gamakichi tasted the Ramen and licked his lips.

"Hey, this is delicious!" he exclaimed

"Gamatatsu, have some too" Naruto added as he gave the yellow frog the remaining bowl. He, however, just ate. That was the good thing, he ate anything edible. Finally, Calcifer and Ryu came back, both holding dead birds in their mouths. They rested aside to eat. Sakura looked at him, and he stared back at her while he ate. After a while, his share directed to his meal once again.

"What kind of birds are those?" Tsunade asked

"Hawks" Ryu answered after he swallowed a piece of meat

"What?" Sakura asked "how did you catch hawks?"

"I used my _**HI-DAMA**_ (N/A- Fire Ball)!" Calcifer said in high voice so Ryu could hear it

"Well, I used my _**Kyofu Kiba**_ (N/A- Gale Fang)!" Ryu replied back in high voice also

"Can't you spend FIVE MINUTES without competing for everything?" Saiko asked them angrily

"at least they're not killing each other" Naruto commented

"good point"

After a while, everyone finished eating. Ryu and Calcifer fell asleep soundly, soon joined by Saiko and Sakura. Naruto fell asleep under a tree, Jiraiya and Tsunade preferred to sleep in their sleeping bags. Gamabunta, however, was not tired. He decided he would just stand on guard, Gamatatsu jumped to his arms and cradled in them.

"nighty night, daddy" he whispered as he fell asleep on his father's arms

Gamakichi just stared at his father and little brother for a moment before resting in the ground; he used to do the same thing with his mother… just to remember it made him feel sad. After a while, he fell asleep. Gamabunta placed Gamatatsu next to him and caressed their heads softly. He remembered when he used to peek into their rooms every night back at home… he wished he had more time to spend with them, but… he had also passed through the same thing. His father was always busy and he spent most of his childhood alone, as his mother had died at childbirth… Gamabunta suddenly felt a terrible sore in his chest, he felt as if the tears wanted to go out of his eyes, but he once again unallowed himself to cry. He was taught that tears show weakness, he just kept looking around for any intruder

XOXOXOXOXO

Kaminaru and Mo stopped at a cliff and sniffed around, the smell was disappearing. If they lost it, it would be very hard to get another item that contained scent of their prey.

"Great, what now?" Mo asked furious

"We have to catch the smell again" Kaminaru answered

"And how are we supposed to do that? We don0t have anything that has the scent of any of them."

"I know, but… if we fail to take them back, you know what will happen…"

"But what case would it have to keep searching for them if we don't even know who will they look for now" Mo exclaimed started to get annoyed "they could either go after Calcifer, or Rayver or Yoshiko!"

"What we know is that we can use the children of the Chief Toad as blackmail"

"WHAT? Have you gone mad? Yo can't do that! That's too low!"

Mo was very angry at the idea; in fact, he had frowned when he had thrown the orange toad child before, he didn't like the idea of using children as blackmail… they were innocent, fragile…

"Don't worry, I won't harm them. I just want to use them so Ryu and the others will have to go back to Siryo… if they don't want to see them die."

Mo was about to say something else, but after thinking for a moment, he finally nodded. After a while, smelled the air once again and decided to use the little scent that remained in their noses before continuing their frantic search.

XOXOXOXOXO

-Gamabunta-

An hour after everyone had fallen asleep, Gamakichi had started to tremble. He was cold, and there wasn't any pond nearby. Gamatatsu was cradled next to him, but apparently didn't matter the cold. Gamabunta looked at his son and noticed he was trembling; he took a whiff from his pipe and exhaled it deeply. After thinking for a moment, he took off his coat and covered Gamakichi and Gamatatsu with it, he didn't care if he himself got sick or something; he hated to see them trembling.

-Gamakichi-

Gamakichi suddenly felt warmer than before, he opened his eyes and saw his father had taken off his coat and covered them with it. He struggled slightly, he had never seen his father without his coat, maybe a few times, but that time his father had been in his bed covered with a blanket. His father's body looked so strong, he indeed WAS very strong despite don't having brawns… but Toads don't have brawns, that's natural, though they can be strong and physically powerful… Gamakichi felt a bit of admiration and respect for his father, he was so strong willed and determinate… he could sometimes hear Fukasaku's words from that time…

"_You have most of his genes, both physical and in personality. You inherited his markings, his stubbornness, his determination, his strong will… I wouldn't be surprised if you had inherited his skills in battle…"_

Gamakichi sighed as he struggled slightly once again and fell asleep.

-Calcifer-

Calcifer woke up and peered his ears to the front. Everyone else was apparently asleep, as he didn't hear anything but the wind blowing on the leaves of the trees. However, he noticed Gamabunta was awake, why, he didn't know. But why would he care? He only cared about himself and no one else… but… something in the Chief Toad's eyes made him feel a strange feeling… what was it, sorry? Compassion?

"_Calcifer, stop thinking about this nonsense!"_ Calcifer thought to himself as he tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep again.

-Ryu and Naruto-

Ryu peered his ears up when he heard something… he would have stood up and went to investigate, but he apparently knew what it was.

"_Surely Gamabunta can't sleep, or Calcifer is annoying a little creature out there…_" he thought to himself. However, for a strange reason, he go back to sleep, as if his eyes refused to close again. As if the terrain around had some kind of effect that unallowed creatures to sleep for long periods of time. But what would he do in the rest of the night, anyway? Maybe he was just distracted and the whole thing with Calcifer was starting to drive him mad. He looked over at Naruto, who was awake too.

"Can't sleep neither?" he asked him

"No" Naruto answered

"…"

"You know, I wanted to ask you something"

"What?"

"See… I'd like to ask you if your sensei made you a test…"

"What kind of test?"

"See… when Sakura, Sasuke and me became Genin, Kakashi-sensei made us a test. If we could take two bells from him"

"And did you pass?"

"Yeah.."

"Speaking of which, who is Sasuke?"

"He was my other teammate, but he deflected from Konoha in search for power."

Ryu noticed a pained look in Naruto's eyes

"…I'm sorry…" he said

"…well, anyway, did your sensei…?" Naruto asked

"Well, Yang DID put us a test… but it was kind of… unusual… "

"What do you mean?"

"See, our test was similar to what you just told me. However, instead of bells, Yang wanted us to take from him jar."

"A jar?"

"Yeah, it all started when we reunited in the training field…"

_*flashback*_

_In the green, grassy training field of Siryo, the sun gently gave generously its rays to the plants that rested on the ground, and on the leaves that lied on the branches of the trees. A nearby crystal creek ran down its path until it ended in a huge lake. After some time, five yearling pups of one year old arrived from the forest. Three of them were recognizable: they were Ryu, Calcifer and Saiko. However, they were much smaller than they would be in a few years. Ryu and Calcifer's Mohawks were smaller while their eyes were bigger. Saiko's eyes were big also, but his ears and his tuft of red hair were quite small. The other two yearlings, however, were another thing. _

_One of them had violet fur with light purple underbelly, paws and on half his tail. His tail was a quite short, but it was sleek instead of bushy. He had a silver Mohawk combed to the front and orange eyes, fine and round eyebrow were over them. A dark purple line ran down his body starting from his eyes and ending on his rear part. _

_The other Wolf Dragon was more elegant-looking. He had pure white fur with ratter big blue Mohawk and long sideburns that reached to his eyes. His tail was long and sleek, its tip was silver. The back of his legs were silver, and a silver line ran down the back of his neck and its end parted in two curves. His eyes were golden, and he had purple marks around them._

"_Good morning…" Saiko yawned_

"_So you woke up early too?" Rayver, the violet Viperwolf asked his teammate_

"_Yeah..."_

"_This is not early compared at the time my tribe wakes up" Yoshiko, the white yearling, commented_

"_Really! Yang Sensei exaggerated with the time!" Calcifer exclaimed on a very bad mood_

"_Shut up! If Yang Sensei arrives and hears you-!" Ryu exclaimed_

"_Hear what?" a voice asked_

_The five yearlings turned and saw that their Sensei had already arrived. Yang was in his wolf form: his fur was black, his eyes green and he had a white teardrop mark in his forehead. He was much bigger than the yearlings; about the size of a horse with the young pups were barely the size of an adult dog._

"_Uh... Yang Sensei…" Calcifer mumbled nervously_

"_What were you saying about me, Calcy?" Yang inquired_

_Calcifer hated when Yang, his teammates or ANYONE called him by the nickname his sister usually called him with. However, he chose to ignore it._

"_Err…" he muttered_

"_you know what, because today is your first training day, I will act as if I didn't hear that" Yang finally said, much to Calcifer's relief._

"_Great!" Ryu exclaimed anxiously "what are you going to teach us, Yang Sensei? An awesome jutsu? A new technique?"_

"_Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute! First you must learn to walk before learning to run!"_

"_Uh?"_

"_First, there's a little test I made for you…"_

"_WHAT?" Saiko asked almost yelling_

"_Yeah, see, I'd like you to try and take something from me…"_

"_What thing?" Yoshiko asked_

"_This"_

_A small cloud of smoke appeared in front of Yang and when it dissipated there was a black jar lying on the ground._

"_If you can take this jar from me without breaking it, you pass." Yang said as he took the jar with his tail._

"_Only that?" Rayver asked_

"_But… if the jar breaks at least in one tiny bit, yo go back to the academy, got it?"_

"_Yes sensei" the five yearlings replied"_

"_Alright… then good luck." Yang said as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke_

_*end flashback*_

"Wow, that's the same thing Kakashi Sensei told us! Well, except that we had to take bells and we there were only two…" Naruto commented

"Well, that's nothing compared to what happened next" Ryu replied "it was very hard to take a jar by force without breaking it in the least"

"Mind if I join you?" a voice asked

Ryu and Naruto noticed Jiraiya had walked next to them and he sat too.

"Alright, after Yang told us to take the jar, it became a hell…"

_*flashback*_

_Yang was sitting on the grassy ground, holding the jar in his tail and looking around for his students. Calcifer and Rayver were hiding in trees, Ryu and Yoshiko opted to hide under some bushes. Yang peered up his ears… just then, Saiko attacked him._

"_I have it!" he exclaimed as he was about to take the jar, but Yang simply moved his tail away and placed his leg, poor Saiko tumbled into a tree_

"_I don't have it... ow…" he muttered before fainting_

"_What an idiot!" Calcifer muttered angrily, before he himself threw himself over Yang. Rayver decided to wait until their sensei was distracted and take the jar. _

_Yang easily sent Calcifer flying against a tree and when Rayver tried to take the jar, he dissipated into the air and reappeared behind, sending Rayver into the creek._

"_Alright, that's it!" Ryu exclaimed as he charged towards Yang, just to end up with a great smack in his head. Yoshiko surprisingly could grab Yang's tail with his fangs, but Yang swinged his tail and Yoshiko was sent flying to the ground. After a while, the yearlings got up, groaning and whining painfully. _

"_Well, that was pathetic" Yang commented_

"_Ow, ow, ow…" Saiko muttered_

"_Yang Sensei, I think you broke me something…" Calcifer muttered_

"_My back… Rayver complained_

"_I hurt my paw" Ryu said as he held up his frontal left paw_

"_I think you don't understand what the purpose of this test was. Do you even know why we make teams?" Yang told them disappointed_

"_To give us a good trashing?" Yoshiko asked as he rubbed his head with his paw_

"_To shred our self-esteem apart" Saiko asked _

"_Well, it is obvious. TEAMWORK!" Yang replied_

"_Uh?" the five yearlings asked confused_

"_You failed because all of acted on your own! Saiko, you didn't analyze the situation before attacking nor asked your teammates' opinions! Rayver, you must learn to cooperate with others and get rid of that… that… attitude of yours! Calcifer, you have to put aside your pride and learn to respect! Ryu, you have to be more cautious and help your teammates! Yoshiko, you have to be more serious, sarcastic joked won't solve problems! If there's no trust in a team, even the simplest mission would end up in disaster"_

"_And why didn't you mention it from the beginning?" Rayver asked_

"_I thought you would figure it out for yourselves, but I see you didn't…"_

_Upon seeing his students' faces of shame and disappointment on themselves, Yang thought for a moment before looking back at them._

"_Alright, I will give you another chance."_

"_What?" Saiko asked_

"_Yeah, I will get ready, you can have lunch meanwhile"_

"_Lunch? You didn't tell us to bring lunch!" Ryu replied almost yelling_

"_Then hunt a rabbit!" Yang smirked "but… don't share your prey. If one of you doesn't get to hunt anything at all, then I'm sorry for you"_

_After saying this, Yang disappeared in a puff of smoke_

"…_I'm not going to kill Yang Sensei… I'm not going to kill Yang Sensei… I'M GOING TO KILL YANG SENSEI!" Calcifer chanted in his mind_

"_We have such bad luck…" Rayver muttered_

"_Hey, Rayver, if you're going to start with you __**I-am-miserable**__ attitude then don't say anything!" Ryu scolded him_

_The five yearlings left in different directions to hunt a small animal_

_*end flashback*_

Jiraiya and Naruto were entertained by Ryu's narration; they had never imagined there was THAT kind of training

"Wow, that was awesome" Naruto said amazed

"He, it's almost when I was a Genin and Sarutobi Sensei tested us" Jiraiya commented

"So you remember that too?" a woman voice asked, everyone turned and saw Tsunade and Sakura were standing there.

"Can we listen too?" Sakura asked

"Sure" Naruto answered grinning

Tsunade and Sakura sat down to listen to the rest of the narration.

"Well, as I was saying, we all had to hunt our lunch…"

_*flashback*_

_Ryu, Calcifer, Rayver and Yoshiko were eating rabbit. Saiko, however, couldn't hunt anything… he lacked stamina, he couldn't keep up with a rabbit nor any fast animals… he heard his stomach growl uncontrollably. Ryu, after looking at his hungry friend and thinking for a while, stood up and plucked a piece of meat from the rabbit he was eating._

"_What are you doing?" Yoshiko asked _

"_I'm going to give Saiko some of my rabbit" Ryu simply said_

"_What? Are you crazy?" Calcifer asked angrily "Yang Sensei told us not to share our food!" _

"_But we have to be cautious. Probably we will have to fight him, and Saiko won't have any strength"_

"_Strength? He lacks that from always!"_

"_You know, I'm here" Saiko pointed out annoyed_

"_What Ryu says is reasonable…" Rayver added coldly "I should have thought about that, I'm an idiot…"_

"_Shut up, Rayver!" Yoshiko told him_

_Ryu gave the piece of meat to Saiko, eventually Rayver and Yoshiko gave him a piece of meat. Calcifer, though reluctant at first, finally sighed frustrated as he plucked a piece of meat from his bird and gave it to Saiko._

"_Say someone about this and you're dead meat" was all he said_

_Saiko understood the message, he ate one of the pieces of meat… suddenly a lighting striked the ground, and Yang appeared_

"_I told you not to share your food!" he told them angrily_

"_See? I told you it wasn't a good idea!" Calcifer said angrily_

"_Now you will have to pay the consequences of your acts!"_

"_Wait a minute, Yang Sensei!" Yoshiko exclaimed "you said that the purpose of this test was teamwork! But when you said not to share our food, it was like contrasting what you said earlier! If we didn't share our food with Saiko, we'd be turning our backs on him and that definitively does have nothing to do with teamwork!"_

"… _Congratulations, you pass"_

"_WHAT?" the five yearlings yelled at the same that shocked_

"_That's the VERY thing I wanted you to do. My others students, on the other hand, always fell for my trap and left their teammates."_

"_Why didn't you mention it on the first place?" Saiko asked offended_

"_Because I wanted to see how smart you were to figure it out for yourselves… a team is like a pack, you must treat your packmates with respect and care… never forget that…"_

_*end flashback*_

When Ryu finished telling his story, everyone was stunned and amazed at the same time.

"Wow, I never thought it would end up like that" Naruto commented

Yeah, it's like that time when we were with Kakashi Sensei" Sakura added

"Guys, I think we should go to sleep" Tsunade said

"Yeah, tomorrow we have to go and search for the two remaining Wolves…" Jiraiya added

"I guess you're right" Naruto added

"Alright, good night then."

Soon, everyone went t sleep. Gamabunta, however, still couldn't sleep. He didn't feel tired, what he could feel was the cold that his skin fought desperately. He thought he would definitively catch a cold, but he thought that was preferable rather than his children being the ones that caught a cold. He sighed and looked around, as the moon once again shared its light with the night sky. On the distance, a wolf howled.


	13. Pan and Beau

Howling Dragon

Chapter 13-Pan and Beau

Back at the ruined Siryo, Pan and Beau arrived at a temple in ruins. In the middle of the temple, there was a small pool of water.

"So… this is how we will get to Ryu-Sama?" Beau asked

"Yes, we only have to activate it…" Pan answered

"And how?"

"Let me think… oh, that's right."

Pan headed for a nearby pile of powder. He took some in a nearby burned leaf and poured it in the pool. Suddenly, the pool of water turned white and a strange light emanated from it.

"Ready," Pan said

"And how does it work?" Beau asked

"Easy; just think in a place or person and the portal will teleport you were that place or person is located."

"Oh… so we have to think on Ryu-Sama?"

"Exactly!"

Pan and Beau got in front of the pool of water and looked at it…

"Think in Ryu-Sama; think in Ryu-Sama…" Beau chanted to himself in his mind

"Three, two, one… NOW!"

The pups dived into the white pool of water. The light that emanated from it eventually dissipated.

XOXOXOXOXO

The sun had risen up, and Calcifer was still asleep.

"Why hasn't he woken up?" Naruto asked confused

"Don't worry; he just isn't used to waking up so early…" Saiko answered

"Early? But it's 10:00 A.M.!" Jiraiya exclaimed

"That's early for him" Ryu commented

"Who will wake him up?"

"Are you crazy? Waking Calcifer up is like signing a death wish in blood!"

"What? Come on, he can't get so angry just because we wake him up!" Sakura added

"Ha, you don't know him! The last time we woke him up he almost turned us unto a barbecue!" Saiko said

"Let's just end up with this!" Gamakichi added annoyed

"All right, who will wake him up?" Jiraiya asked

"Don't look at me! I don't want to turn into a Earth Wolf Dragon Babekyu (N/A- Barbecue)!" Saiko replied

"I don't want to have another burn again!" Ryu added

"Oh, come on! What do we do then?"

"… We can soak him with a bucket of water, but we'd be committing suicide"

"Leave that to me" Gamabunta grinned "Teppodama!"

He spat a bullet of water at Calcifer. The poor Fire Wolf Dragon woke up abruptly when he felt the water hit him

"WHAT THE-?" he said enraged and alarmed as he shaked to dry himself off "WHO IS GOING TO DIE FOR THIS?"

Everyone quickly stepped back when they saw Calcifer had entered an awful mood. Gamatatsu hid behind his father, Ryu sighed frustrated and Saiko hid his tail behind his legs, showing fear.

"WELL?"

"That'd be… me" Gamabunta answered

"WHY THE HECK DID YOU LAUNCH ME A LIQUID BULLET?"

"You were sleeping for too long."

"Guys, hate to interrupt your argue, but we have more important things to deal with-" Naruto said before being interrupted by a white portal that suddenly opened above them. Two pups came out of it and fell over Jiraiya

"ARHG!" Jiraiya yelped as he fell, the two pups now lying on his back rubbing their heads. Suddenly, Ryu and Calcifer's eyes went wide open.

"Pantalaimon?" Ryu asked shocked

"Beaucephalis?" Calcifer soon followed

"Ryu Sensei!" Pan exclaimed

"Hi, Calcy Sensei!" Beau exclaimed happily

Calcifer suddenly became frustrated when his Gakusei (N/A- Student) called him by his silly (or what he considered ridiculous) nickname.

"Please, don't call me like that in public…" he hissed angrily

"Whatever you say, Calcy Sensei" was the reply

Calcifer smacked himself in the head

"Excuse me, who are they?" Tsunade asked

"They are Pantalaimon and Beaucephalis," Saiko answered "they are Ryu and Calcifer's Gakusei respectively"

"Gakusei? You mean that YOU teach THEM?" Gamakichi asked curiously, as if an idea had popped out in his mind

"Yes"

"Hello? We must find the other two!" Sakura exclaimed

"Oh, that's right!" Ryu remembered "I think we should go search for Rayver"

"Rayver?" Naruto asked

"He's from the Shadow Tribe," Saiko explained, "but… his attitude is quite… negative…"

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked

"He tends to act pessimist… like saying he is stupid, he can't pass five minutes without saying something negative."

"But he is very skilled in battle; I don't know why he has that attitude…"

"Well, where do you think he will be?" Sakura asked

"Well, I can't give you the details, he could be anywhere. In fact, he doesn't care where he is, as long as it's dark and comfortable."

"Dark and comfortable… that sounds like Dokutsugakure (N/A- Village hidden in the Cave)" Jiraiya said

"Uh? Oh, yeah! I have heard about it! It's located in a giant cave!"

"That's the kind of places Rayver would go to" Ryu added

"It's settled, then. We depart now for Dokutsugakure!" Naruto added excited

"Yeah!" Pan said happily

"Hey, who told said you are coming?" Ryu asked him

"But Ryu Sensei…!"

"No, buts, you two have to go back to Siryo in this instant!" Calcifer added

"Oh, come on!" Beau said "we can't go back! What would we do there anyway?"

"Stay out of harm's way, that's what you would do!"

"Alright, if you don't want your stuff back…" Pan grinned

"What?" Ryu asked confused

"We found your things, Ryu Sensei"

Pan and Beau left the weapons they had found earlier in the ground.

"Our weapons!" Saiko said happily

"Where did you two find them?" Calcifer inquired

"In a pile of ash, Calcy Sensei!" Beau answered with a wide smile

Calcifer resisted the urge to give his Gakusei a smack in the head and instead grabbed his sword belt and wore it, like Ryu and Saiko.

"Well, this should make things a bit easier, don't you think?" Jiraiya asked

"Well, Ryu Sensei, since we brought you your weapons…"

"Forget about it, Pantalaimon! You two would only make thing harder! We can't fight while watching over you at the same time!"

"Oh, I just remembered!" Beau added, "The Alphas declared you traitors and ordered the Tribes to catch you"

"WHAT?" Calcifer asked shocked

"Oh, yeah. We forgot to mention it to you" Saiko said "Kaminaru and Mo tracked us down and said they had to take us back to Siryo for our execution."

"And why didn't you mention it before?"

"We forgot…" Ryu answered

"So, if we go back and they find out we helped you, we will be executed. But you want us to go back, so…" Beau grinned

"… You're a dirty persuader, you know" Calcifer told his Gakusei

Gamakichi noticed a pained look in Pan's eyes, what had happened to him? He looked at his father, but he apparently hadn't noticed.

"Alright, alright, you can come." Ryu finally budged "but don't get into harm's way, got it?"

"Got it, Ryu Sensei" Pan answered

"Can we go now?" Calcifer asked irritated

"All right, all right! Just try not to light yourself on fire!" Saiko added

"Ha-ha, very funny"

The group departed for Dokutsugakure

XOXOXOXOXO

Kaminaru felt a different, familiar scent in the air and stopped.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why did you stop?" Mo inquired as he stopped right next to his partner

"I just caught another scent…" Kaminaru answered as he sniffed the air once again and peered up his ears

"And whose scent is this?"

"… Pantalaimon."

"What? Pantalaimon?"

"Yes"

"But how did he enter into the human realm?"

"He must have used the Shizunpotaru…"

"I knew we should have sealed that thing before leaving!"

"Let's find them, NOW"

Both continued on their journey, Kaminaru had a weird look in his eyes, like worrying about something.

XOXOXOXOXO

In Dokutsugakure, a shadow lurked in the darkness. He looked like a giant dog, but in reality he was a Wolf Dragon, a Shadow Wolf Dragon to be more precise. He had a deep violet fur with light purple underbelly, paws and the tip of his tail and sleek tail. His ears were pointy; a long stripe of a light violet shade ran from his eyes and down his body. He had light orange eyes, a silver Mohawk combed frontwards, and a fine, round eyebrow lied over his eyes. He wore a

Orange sword holder with a sword attached to it along with its fund. Rayver looked exactly like when he was a pup, except that he was bigger, his Mohawk larger and way tougher than before.

"I should have gone in search of the others, but I' too stupid to have thought of that… it would have been useless anyway, they sure must be dead by now…" he thought to himself coldly as he rested on the cold rock and looked around. He thought how he could have gotten this far, he thought that he should have already been killed by one of the Giant snakes or captured and killed by some shinobi… it was… painful… Rayver sighed as he fell asleep

XOXOXOXOXO

The gang continued to journey towards Dokutsu. Their feet ached, but they couldn't stop now ad risk to reencounter with Kaminaru and Mo. Pan and Beau were having trouble to keep up, they were not used to run for hours without resting, eating nor drinking anything.

"*pant*… *pant…* Ryu Sensei, can't we rest a bit?" Pan asked his sensei tired

"Pan, just a little longer…" Ryu replied softly

"That's what you said about an hour ago!"

"Listen, I'm going to be sincere with you!" Calcifer added, "If we stop and rest, Kaminaru and Mo might catch up to us and believe me when tell you that is very hard for those two to lose a trail!"

"But Calcy Sensei, my feet are aching!" Beau complained

"Okay, let's do this: we rest a bit and then continue, okay?" Sakura suggested

"Good idea" Saiko added "let's stop before my paws start bleeding"

The group stopped in a clear of the forest and sat down, Naruto and Jiraiya rubbed at their feet while Pan and Beau licked their paws.

"Finally we get to have some rest…" Calcifer muttered to himself as he rested in the ground

"Don't get too comfortable, we're just staying here for a while" Tsunade reminded everyone

"Okay, got the message…" Pan replied

"Try not to waste any more energy…" Ryu suggested everyone

Gamatatsu yawned and jumped to his father's arms, cradled in them and fell asleep shortly. Gamakichi just looked at his little brother, wondering when he would become independent. Gamabunta looked at his son and then back at Gamatatsu.

"…pops…" Gamakichi whispered

"What is it?" his father inquired

"… How was I before I was born?"

Bunta couldn't contain a smile

"Well, how can I describe it? You didn't move as much as your brother…"

"Uh?"

"The only times when you moved was when… when I touched your mother's belly…"

"What…?"

"I can tell you more… If you want…"

"Sure, pops…"

"That time I was working in my office…"

_*flashback*_

_Gamabunta was doing his paperwork when he heard his wife's voice._

"_Bunta, dear, it's kicking!" she called_

_Bunta immediately went to the living room where his wife was and looked at her; her belly was bigger due to the Toad baby that grew in her womb. He sat next to her._

"_What are you saying? It's kicking?" Gamabunta asked anxiously_

"_Yeah, though I don't know why it doesn't kick very often… it stopped" Lyra replied_

"_What?"_

"_It's not kicking anymore…"_

"_Let me see…"_

_Bunta touched his wife's belly softly and nothing happened. But when he was about to retire his hand, he felt something… _

"_Lyra, it's touching me…" _

"_What do you mean, dear?"_

"_I'm not sure, but… it feels like the baby's touching me…"_

"_I heard that means he will love you very much…"_

"_Do you think?"_

"_Oh, dear, if I love you, why the baby wouldn't?"_

_Lyra giggled as she kissed her husband in the lips. Gamabunta smiled as he began to kiss her back, both closed their eyes. Suddenly, the baby moved slightly, as if complaining. Bunta unnoticing placed his hand on Lyra's belly once again, the baby was apparently satisfied, as it began kicking once again._

_*end flashback*_

Gamakichi couldn't contain small smile… it was heartwarming to hear that… and yet painful at the same time. After thinking for a moment, he hopped and cradled next to his father as when he was little. Gamabunta was surprised, Gamakichi hadn't done that in a lot of time… the last time he had done it he was one year old. He wondered why Gamakichi had changed a lot since his mother died, maybe… suddenly, Bunta's eyes went open wide. What if Gamakichi had hit… puberty? So soon?

"_But I haven't even given him the talk yet!_" he freaked out in his mind.

He still thought about Gamakichi's words…

"_I'm not a child ANYMORE!"_

Gamabunta knew that very well, but… it was hard to accept, and it pained him to do so. He wished he could go back in time when Gamakichi was a baby, and Lyra was still alive…

"Well, guys, we should go now" Sakura suggested

"You know, I'm already sleepy…" Beau replied yawning

"In fact, Calcifer is already sleeping" Saiko added

"What do you think, guys? Should we stay here for the night?" Jiraiya inquired with a yawn

"That'd a good idea" Saiko answered as he fell asleep

"… alright, off to sleep, then" Ryu added as he rested and fell asleep

Soon everyone had fallen asleep. Gamakichi yawned and fell asleep soon enough too, Gamabunta took him in his arms and wrapped him and Gamatatsu with a piece of his coat before he himself fell asleep also.


	14. Dokutsugakure

Howling Dragon

Chapter 14- Dokutsugakure

Kaminaru and Mo were still tracking the scent of Pantalaimon when they heard something… a howl… a Summoning Howl… the Council wanted to see them.

"Great, what are we going to tell them?" Mo asked irritated

"We have to tell them what has happened so far." Kaminaru replied coldly

"We're dead meat, you know that?"

"Yes, but we can't lie to them."

Kaminaru disappeared in a puff of smoke, and was soon followed by Mo. When they smoke dissipated, they were back in the chambers of the Council. The five Alphas were sitting in their respective places.

"So, did you capture them?" the Earth Alpha asked

"Uh, well…" Mo tried to answer

"What do you think? If they had captured them, don't you think they would have brought them?" the Fire Alpha snarled at the Earth Alpha

"You don't have to be so harsh!" the Earth Alpha replied

"We lost their trail…" Mo started

"How could you two lose their trail? You're the best trackers of your tribes!" the Wind Alpha exclaimed

"We caught up to them, but they refused to come back…"

"So? If they don't come willingly, then bring them by force!" the Shadow Alpha said

"We just caught the scent of Pantalaimon-" Kaminaru was saying before being interrupted

"Pantalaimon? Your son?" the Fire Alpha asked

"… Yes."

"How did he go into the human realm?" the Water Alpha asked

"The Shizunpotaru…" Mo answered

"We must seal that thing for now…" the Earth Alpha muttered to himself

"Anyway, we got an idea." Kaminaru continued

"WE?" Mo asked uncredously

"Ryu and Naruto Uzumaki are accompanied by the Chief Toad and his two sons."

"The Chief Toad… you mean Lord Gamabunta, right?" the Wind Alpha inquired

"Yes. I think we can force Ryu and the others back if we use the Chief Toad's children as blackmail."

"That's too low for our clan!" the Shadow Alpha exclaimed

"But it can't fail! See, if we capture one of the Chief Toad's sons, Ryu will surely give up in order to protect them due to his great care about others."

"… not bad, but… we'd be lowering ourselves sharply!" the Fire Alpha snarled

"We have no other options, milord," Mo apologized

"… Those in favor of that plan?" the Water Alpha asked his companions. The Fire, Shadow and Wind Alphas raised their clawed paws. Only the Earth and Water Alphas weren't in favor with that plan.

"… very well, then. You may proceed with you plan." The Wind Alpha told the two trackers.

"Thanks, milord." Mo said bowing

"You are dismissed." The Shadow Alpha said as he used his Shadow Portal technique to send them both back to where they were before coming.

"And so… we have to find them." Mo said

"Let's go…"

The two Wolf Dragons sniffed the air and peered up their ears, then ran into a random direction.

XOXOXOXOXO

The first in waking up was Naruto. He stretched himself and felt much better, sleeping in a sleeping bag could be uncomfortable, but it was either that or sleeping in the cold ground. Eventually Gamakichi woke up and yawned, his father was still asleep.

"Good morning, Gamakichi." Naruto said

"Good morning, Naruto…" was the reply

"Ow… did you sleep in a bad position?"

"In reality no, but it seems you did…"

"…hey, I know I shouldn't ask you this, but… who was your mother?"

"… Her name was Gamalyra…"

"That's a cute name…"

"Can we go to another place?"

"Sure, come on."

Naruto and Gamakichi went a few meters away and stopped in a small hill. The sun hadn't come up yet, but they clearly could see the stars and Hitamura village from afar.

"It's a very good look…" Naruto commented

"Yeah, sure it is…" Gamakichi replied, "My mom would have loved it…"

"She liked landscapes…?"

"Yeah… and she loved pops very much too…"

"How did she look like?"

"I remember she was like my brother, but she had golden eyes, like me…"

"So you got her eyes and your Gamatatsu got her appearance?"

"Apparently…"

"…how did she die?"

"She got sick of an unknown disease… she died a few days shortly, pops was brokenhearted."

"Wow, he surely loved her very much…"

"Yes, he did…"

"Hey, I have noticed you and the Chief Toad have not been getting along lately…"

"It's just that he is a little too protective if you ask me! I bet you he would make a ruckus if he woke up in this instant and found out I'm not there!" Gamakichi said annoyed

"He simply wants to protect you… he loves you very much and doesn't want anything bad happens to you…" Naruto tried to calm him down

"Besides, he is very cold. The only thing he does back home is his paperwork; everything else apparently escapes his interest!"

"I bet he would show worry if he found out something happened to you and Gamatatsu"

"But I DO admire his strength of character and his determination…"

"I'm sure you inherited that from him…

"Anyway, I was thinking about something… would Ryu teach me some Jutsu?"

"Jutsu? But you don't even know what's your Chakra nature!"

"Ryu is an expert in that, I guess, so he might know…"

"Know what?" a voice asked

Naruto and Gamakichi turned to see Ryu had joined them

"Ryu…" Gamakichi whispered, "I was wondering if you could teach me some Jutsu… please?"

"but if I do, your father will be crossed at me…" Ryu replied unsure

"He won't find out."

"But if he finds out, he's going to be VERY mad!" Naruto commented

"My mother wanted to teach me some Jutsu, but pops thought I was still too young to learn that."

"There's something I'd like to know: when did your mother die?"

"When I was four years old… that night dad had sent me to sleep early when mom had just had a shock. Some hours later, I went back to the living room. Pops was there, crying and holding mom in his arms… she was dead…"

Gamakichi dried the tears that rolled down his cheeks. He could not remember it, it was too painful… Gamatatsu, on the other hand, didn't remember anything at all. He had been just a baby back then, after all…

"Alright, I think it won't be so bad to be cautious… you know, in case we get attacked and your father's not here…" Ryu commented

"Then you will teach me?" Gamakichi asked

"But first I need to know your Chakra nature."

"It might sound incredible, but I don't know."

"Then how am I supposed to teach you a Jutsu?"

"At least a movement?"

"A movement would be easier, though I'm quadruped… fine, let's take advantage that your father is asleep right now."

"Yeah!"

Naruto, Gamakichi and Ryu walked away to a field. It was still dark.

"Listen, I'm going to teach you a movement called the **Kaze no Jishaku** (N/A- Wind Magnet). It's a useful technique when you're attacked by your back. It's like this; Naruto, attack me from behind."

"What?" Naruto asked

"Attack me from behind so I can show Gamakichi how's this move,"

"Alright…"

Ryu closed his eyes. Naruto got behind him, but when he tried to attack him Ryu peered up his ears and did a back flip. A shocked Naruto looked behind just as Ryu knocked him down

"Wow…" Gamakichi muttered, "How did you do that? And with your eyes closed?"

"You have to use your senses to know if there's an enemy behind, even when you can't see anything."

"Like in dark places, right?" Naruto asked

"Exactly! Gamakichi, you try now."

Gamakichi turned and the same position as Ryu. He closed his eyes shut, expecting the attack. Ryu slowly got closer to Gamakichi as if he was after a prey. Gamakichi, however, couldn't avoid it and Ryu held him by his jacket before he could even jump. Ryu let him go.

"You have to concentrate more. Use your hearing sense." Ryu explained

"But I'm not Wolf Dragon, I'm a Toad. Our hearing sense is not as sharp…"

"and then try to use your other senses. Like the vibrations of the ground or the method Toads use to know what's behind their backs."

"Guys, the sun's coming out." Naruto announced

In fact, the first lights of the day were timidly illuminating the tops of the trees and the animals began to awake from their nocturnal slumber.

"We should go back before the others find out we are gone," Ryu told his two companions as the three went back to the camp as fast as they could.

When they got to the camp, they were relieved to see that everyone else was still sleeping, Gamakichi couldn't help to snicker when he heard his father snoring. How could the others sleep with that? After a while, Jiraiya and Sakura woke up.

"Did you three sleep less than us?" Sakura asked

"Yeah, we were not as tired as we thought we would," Naruto answered

"Well, Dokutsugakure is not far away from here, just three more miles to the north."

Suddenly, Calcifer's ears peered up and he woke up

"Wait a minute, Dokutsugakure?" he asked still half-asleep

"Uh, yeah…" Gamakichi replied

"That village is heavily guarded! They don't let travelers enter the village unless they have a passport!"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked

"I went to that village. They didn't let me go in because I had no passport."

"How do we know you're not inventing that because you don't like that town?" Ryu asked distrustfully

"Go on ahead, don't believe me. But when that people doesn't let us go in without a passport, I will have a huge, boiling pan of *I told you* waiting for you."

"Let's wake up the others," Jiraiya said as he stood up

XOXOXOXOXO

Kaminaru and Mo stopped and smelled the air. Pan´s scent was fading away once again.

"Ironic, isn't it? Kaminaru asked, "I can't keep the scent of my own son."

"Let's think; where could they have gone now?" Mo reminded him

"There are two options: in search of Yoshiko or Rayver."

"And how will we know who they are going to look for now?"

"Easy; they will look for Rayver. To find Yoshiko they would have to travel to a cold place and the only cold place nearby is the land of snow. It would take about a week to reach there, and it's obviously easier to look for Rayver than to look for Yoshiko."

"… I suppose I can't oppose to that logic."

"Let's think about our plan-"

"OUR plan? You mean YOUR plan! I still disagree in using a child as black mail!"

"Anyway, we should think which of the two we should catch…"

Mo laid his ears back, and looked at the ground in thought. He had only seen the eldest of the Chief Toad's sons… that orange little Toad… he could sense his determination and his stubbornness, his desire to fight… Gamakichi, that's how the Chief Toad had called him. The other little tad, however, we unknown to him. He didn't know how he looked like, of if he acted the same as his older brother.

"…Gamakichi…" Mo finally said

"What?" Kaminaru asked confused

"I think it would be wise to catch Gamakichi…"

"Who's…"

"The orange Toad that gripped at me from behind."

"Oh, why him?"

"First, we don't know the other of the Chief Toad's sons. Second, I think the Chief Toad would do anything to have him back, don't you think?"

"Of course he would do anything, all fathers do…"

Kaminaru sighed and looked around

"We should go," he said

Mo nodded as he and Kaminaru sniffed the air and followed what they had left of Pan's scent.

XOXOXOXOXO

The group arrived at a cavern with a large entrance.

"This is the entrance?" Sakura asked

"In reality, this is the entrance to the cavern. The entrance to the city is a bit deeper." Saiko explained

"Let's hope the *happiest Shadow Wolf Dragon in the world*," Calcifer sighed with a notable ton of sarcasm, "hasn't left."

"We are staying here," Gamabunta announced the group

"Pops!" Gamakichi protested

"If you stay, I suppose one of us should accompany you." Ryu commented

"I will," Sakura nervously said

"Are you sure, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her with a worried tone

"Yeah, I don't like going into caves, anyway."

"Come on, pops! Let me go with them!" Gamakichi pleaded his father

"But just look at that cave, I bet you wouldn't even see your own hands." Gamabunta commented

"Don't worry, we will take care of him," Jiraiya assured his long time friend

"Very well, but if something happens to him-"

Pops, you

"Come on." Ryu said as Gamakichi climbed onto his back and the group ran into the cave. It was very dark, they couldn't even see their hands, but they only ran forward.

"I don't see a thing!" Tsunade complained

"OW! That's my tail, you imbecile!" Calcifer snarled

"Sorry," Saiko apologized

"Why the heck is so dark?" Jiraiya asked irritated

"No doubt Rayver would come here," Naruto commented

"I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel…" Tsunade announced

Indeed, there was a small light at what appeared to be the end of the tunnel. When they arrived at the end, they were delighted with what they saw. In the large cavern, there was an entrance made of bricks with the shape of an arc and inside there were many buildings which were always illuminated. There was a giant wall surrounding the city.

"Wow, this is sure an underground city…" Jiraiya murmured

"Hey, Saiko. how is it that the ceiling doesn't collapse?" Tsunade asked

"I don't see any dust or rocks falling from the ceiling, so this cave is stable," Saiko explained, "but stalagmites do fall sometimes, apparently."

"And do you think Rayver is in the city?" Naruto asked

"Well, knowing that pessimistic wolf, this is the kind of places he likes." Calcifer commented

"Less talking and more searching," Jiraiya added

The group descended down the cave by climbing down a rocky path that looked like stairs.

XOXOXOXOXO

Outside, Sakura was sitting under a tree next to Gamabunta. Gamatatsu was asleep in his father's arms, often struggling slightly or yawning. Sakura was slightly nervous; she had always been terrified of toads, but she gathered courage to break the silence.

"… So, Chief Toad… I have noticed Gamakichi and you aren't getting along lately…" she commented

"It's just that… I don't know how to communicate with him; he never listens to me… he used to be more obedient when he was younger, before his mother died…" Gamabunta whispered sadly

"He loved her very much?"

"Lyra always knew how to talk with him. When she got pregnant of him, she was sure he would be a male…"

"She did?"

"Yeah… when Gamakichi was in her belly, he didn't move very often. He only moved when I touched Lyra's belly."

"Now that's something…"

"Since we apparently will have to wait here for a while, we will have to find a way to entertain ourselves…"

"Chief Toad, wouldn't you mind telling me when your wife got pregnant of Gamakichi?"

"I'd suggest you to get comfortable…"

_*flashback*_

_The Chief Toad was having a break from his daily-paperwork. He wondered how had his father stand so much writing. Gamalyra suddenly ran into the bathroom and Bunta could hear as if she was vomiting. He immediately stood and went to the door._

"_Lyra, are you okay?" he asked, concern notably in his voice_

_After a while, Lyra opened the door, and went out. She looked paler…_

"_Are you feeling bad?" Gamabunta asked his wife softly_

"_Bunta… I have to tell you something…" Gamalyra muttered under her breath dizzy_

"_What is it?"_

"_I… I think I'm… pregnant."_

"_What?"_

"_I have been vomiting and feeling dizzy very lately."_

"_That means…?"_

"_Yeah, we will have a baby."_

"_That's great news!"_

"_I think it will be a boy…"_

_Gamabunta smiled as he placed his hand on his wife's belly, Lyra looked at her belly smiling too._

_*end flashback*_

Bunta smiled slightly when he was done with his tale, Sakura was looking at him surprised.

"I'm sure she was s good mother…" she commented

"She was, indeed…" Gamabunta replied softly as Gamatatsu yawned and nuzzled against his coat.

XOXOXOXOXO

The group stopped right at the front gates of the city.

"Wow, this clearly has a great structure," Saiko commented

"Hey, granny-Tsunade, do you know if this village has a ramen bar?" Naruto asked

"I don't think so…"Tsunade replied

"Let's just find Rayver and get out of here!" Calcifer snarled

But when they were about to enter, some guards stopped them

"Hey!" Jiraiya exclaimed

"Passports," one of the guards told them

"Passports? We need them?" Naruto asked

"If you have no passports, you can't enter," another guard said

"Oh, come on! We only came to look for someone!"

"It doesn't matter what's your business here! If you don't have a passport, you can't enter!"

"This is what I hate from human government!" Calcifer commented to Saiki and Ryu in low voice

"While they argue we could go around and find another way to enter the city unnoticed," Ryu suggested

"Let's go," Saiko said

The three Wolf Dragons cautiously left while Tsunade, Jiraiya and Naruto argued with the guards.

"ARGH! This is like arguing with a wall!" Jiraiya finally exclaimed annoyed as he walked away, soon followed by Naruto and Tsunade.

"Hey, where are Ryu and the others?" Naruto asked

"They are right-" Jiraiya was about to say but then he noticed they weren't around, "you're right, they are not here."

"I think they went to find another entrance," Tsunade deduced

"We should go with them," Naruto suggested

The three walked following the wall of the city.

XOXOXOXOXO

Ryu, Calcifer and Saiko sniffed around, looking for a sewer or a window where to go into the city. But there was nothing in the wall but bricks, there were no water channels neither that went into the city.

"I give up!" Calcifer exclaimed as he sat down, "I have no idea how Rayver could go into the city without calling the attention!"

"For once, I agree with you," Ryu commented

"Think guys!" Saiko tried to cheer them up, "there must be a weak point in this wall!"

"And how are we going to find it? It's not like I could blow it up! It would obviously call the attention of the guards!" Calcifer replied annoyed

"Stop complaining, would you?" Ryu asked annoyed

"You shut-!" Calcifer was about to say but he didn't look where he was going and fell into an hole

"Oh, for my fangs!" Saiko exclaimed as he and Ryu ran next to the hole Calcifer had fallen into

"Calcifer, are you okay?" Ryu asked, expecting an answer

"What do you think?" was Calcifer's painful reply, "ow…"

"Well, at least you apparently found a way into the city,"

"But… who could have dug this…" Saiko was about to ask, "Rayver."

"Impossible, this tunnel is too big to have been dug by Rayver." Ryu replied

"Are you going to come here or what?" Calcifer snarled

"Okay! Okay!"

Ryu and Saiko jumped into the hole.


	15. Rayver

Howling Dragon

Chapter 15- Rayver

Ryu, Saiko and Calcifer walked down the tunnel, hoping to see an exit soon. Gamakichi was in Ryu's back, trying not to fall.

"I don't see anything!" Saiko exclaimed

"Hey, Calcifer, can't you lit yourself on fire to light this tunnel?" Ryu asked the Fire Wolf Dragon

"If you want to turn into a barbecue, yes." Calcifer replied smirking

"Guys, I think there's an exit over there…" Gamakichi commented

In fact, there was an exit a few steps way. The Wolf Dragons jumped out of the hole and discovered they were in the city. The buildings had two floors, though some had only one floor. There were lamps hanging almost everywhere due to the fact that sunlight didn't reach there. People walked down the streets.

"How do these people even realize when it's day or night?" Gamakichi asked

"You know, I have no idea…" Saiko replied

"Let's just look for Rayver so we can return to the warm and illuminating sunlight!" Ryu rushed his companions as he walked down the street, Calcifer and Saiko soon followed.

XOXOXOXOXO

Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade were walking around the wall of the city, looking for the Wolf Dragons and the Toadling.

"Where did these guys go?" Naruto asked

"I don't think they just went to take a walk around the city. They must have entered somehow…" Tsunade deduced

"Look over there!" Jiraiya announced

They saw the hole Ryu and the others had gotten into a while ago.

"They must have gone into the city through this tunnel…." Jiraiya deduced

"Hey, Pervy Sage, did you bring a lamp or something? In don't think we can see in the darkness, can we?" Naruto asked

"… Oh, it doesn't matter. It can't be very long."

The trio went into the hole and walked down the tunnel

XOXOXOXOXO

Ryu, Saiko, Calcifer and Gamakichi were still looking for Rayver. They couldn't believe how people could live in this darkness.

"I'm surprised they hadn't being eaten by bats or something…" Calcifer commented

"Well, at least they illuminated the streets." Saiko added

"Guys, so how does Rayver look like?" Gamakichi inquired

"He has violet fur with lilac tones in his underbelly and paws. He also has a silver mohawk combed to the front," Ryu described him

"And orange eyes," Saiko finished

"I don't imagine how he can live in here!" Gamakichi said

"It's natural; Shadow Wolf Dragons in Siryo like to make their villages in caves or dark places."

"_Have they nocturnal visions or what_?" Calcifer thought to himself

Meanwhile, near there, Rayver was still asleep when he peered up his ears. He thought he was hearing the voice of his teammates. But who…? Ryu, it seems, and Saiko too… maybe Calcifer, but the fourth voice… the fourth voice was unknown to him, he had never heard it before. Rayver's curiosity got the better than him and he went to investigate.

"Rayver, come out from wherever you are!" Calcifer called annoyed

Yes, indeed, that was Calcifer's voice.

"Are you looking for me?" Rayver asked as he came out of the shadows

"Rayver!" the other three Wolf Dragons exclaimed as they ran next to their teammate. Gamakichi was surprised with the new member of the group, he could see his cold orange eyes.

"Hey, Rayver how have you been?" Saiko asked the Shadow Wolf Dragon

"Fine, I'm surprised that I didn't get killed back at Siryo, taking in mind that I'm very clumsy." Rayver answered

"If you're going to start with your pessimist attitude, then we should better leave you here!" Calcifer annoyingly said

"_Wow, his attitude is like Gamaken's..._" Gamakichi thought to himself

"Can we go already?" Ryu asked, "I'm getting very nervous about being in a cave,"

"Fine, fine, let's…" Saiko was about to say, but when he turned he couldn't recognize the path they had taken from the hole, "uh-oh…"

"*uh-oh*, what?" Calcifer asked

"If o tell you, you won't make a ruckus?"

"Why would we make a ruckus?" Ryu asked

"… I forgot the way back…"

There was silence for a moment, then…

"WHAT?" Ryu and Calcifer asked shocked

"How could you forget the way back?" Ryu asked nervous

"Hey, all the streets look the same! I bet you two also forgot the way back!" Saiko exclaimed

"Great, what do we do now? We will take hours if we explore the whole city looking for that damned tunnel!" Calcifer exclaimed

"Tunnel?" Rayver asked, "You mean the tunnel in the west side of the city?"

"You know the way?" Saiko asked

"I don't know, I have a bad memory…"

"Let's just try to find that damned tunnel!" Calcifer exclaimed annoyed

The Wolf Dragons walked down the street, trying to remember the way back

XOXOXOXOXO

Pan and Beau were asleep next to Sakura; Beau often wagged his tail or yawned. Suddenly, Pan peered up his ears and looked towards a direction.

"Guys, we have to hide!" he exclaimed

"What…? Why…? Beau asked still half-asleep}

"My father is coming closer!"

"What?" Sakura asked

"But how did they track us down?" Gamabunta inquired

"Dad should have gotten my scent!" Pan explained

The group quickly ran to the bushes and hid the best they could. After a while, Kaminaru and Mo jumped right in front of them. However, the two were unaware that they were hiding right in front of their noses.

"This is the entrance to Dokutsugakure?" Kaminaru asked his partner

"In reality, this is entrance to the cave. The entrance to the city is a bit deeper into the cave." Mo answered

"You think that Gamakichi might be with them?"

When he heard this, Gamabunta's eyes opened wide shocked

"I think so; we should hurry before they escape again."

Mo and Kaminaru ran into the darkness into the cave. When they left, Gamabunta quickly stood up

"I'm going after them." he announced

"What? But Chief Toad…" Sakura was about to say

"Didn't you hear? They are after Gamakichi! I can't let them harm him!"

"But he's with Ryu and the others. They won't let anything happen to him!"

"But it will be hard for them to fight if they have to protect Gamakichi at the same time!"

Sakura, knowing she couldn't argue against that logic, nodded. Gamatatsu looked at his father

"Daddy, can I go with you?" he asked

"Gamatatsu, it's too dangerous. I don't want to risk your life neither, you should stay wit Sakura…" Gamabunta explained his son softly

Gamatatsu hugged his father tightly

"Daddy, don't leave me!" he cried as he nuzzled against his father's coat

"I will be fine, don't worry." Bunta tried to comfort his son as he caressed the back of his head

"Daddy…"

Sakura took Gamatatsu in her arms

"Don't worry, Chief Toad. I will take care of him." she assured

Gamabunta nodded as he turned and dashed into the cave, not minding the blackness.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Well, we have searched EVERYWHERE in this damned neighborhood and we haven't been able to find that stupid tunnel!" Calcifer snarled

"Come on, we have to think positively!" Saiko tried to cheer up Calcifer

"That has no sense; we will never find that tunnel…" Rayver muttered

"Shut up, Rayver!" Ryu scolded him

"Guys, do you think Naruto and the others are alright?" Gamakichi asked

"Let's hope so."

"Who are they?" Rayver asked

"Oh, they are shinobi from Konoha who will help us rescue the Great Alpha."

"You think they already came in here?" Saiko asked

"If they have, they will have a headache to find us!" Calcifer commented annoyed

Suddenly, a in a flash of golden and white, appeared Mo and Kaminaru

"You have to be kidding me! You two again?" Saiko asked

"Kaminaru and Mo?" Calcifer asked confused

"What are they doing here?" Rayver inquired slightly surprised

"Oh, yeah. Those two want to take you guys back to Siryo to execute you," Gamakichi explained

"Let me guess; the Supreme Council is behind this." Calcifer added

"They have no other choice, the decreed that we must follow the Snake Man's orders to prevent him from killing the Great Alpha!" Kaminaru snarled

Suddenly, Mo charged towards Ryu and tried to grab Gamakichi's jacket. Ryu avoided him and Mo's jaws closed in the air.

"Leave him alone!" Ryu snarled

"It wasn't enough with what you did to him back at the forest!" Saiko snarled

"This keeps getting better and better," Calcifer smirked, sensing the incoming fight

"I'm clumsy, but I'll do my best," Rayver added

Gamakichi hopped from Ryu's back and went to find somewhere to hide, knowing he would just stand in the way

"Get him!" Mo growled

But when he and Kaminaru were about to chase down Gamakichi, Ryu and the others stopped them

"_**Saikuron!**__" _Ryu snarled as he whipped his tail and formed a cyclone that went towards Kaminaru and Mo. Mo avoided it, but Kaminaru was not so lucky. He was sent flying into the cyclone.

"_**Hyoton: Mo Fubuki!**_ (N/A-Ice Release: Blizzard) " Mo snarled as he blew a cold wind out of his mouth and everything around Ryu and the others was blurry because of the snow and wind

"I don't see anything!" Saiko snarled

"Me neither!" Rayver added

"Coal Breath, get us out of here!" Ryu yelled for Calcifer to hear him

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Calcifer replied, "_**Katon: Seika!**__"_

Calcifer engulfed himself with flames and those expanded, melting the snow away. The blizzard dissipated.

"Time for payback!" Rayver snarled, "_**Baton: Naitoshedo! **_(N/A- Shadow Release: Night Shade)"

Rayver opened his jaws and from them came out a dark aura beam with dark reddish and bluish tones tinted on it. Mo couldn't avoid it and was sent flying against a nearby table. However, Kaminaru shot down from Ryu's Cyclone in his Thunder Armor and struck Rayver in the stomach. Rayver was sent flying against barrels

"Rayver!" Saiko called concerned.

Rayver growled angrily as he tried to stand up, pain jolts could be felt through his stomach. Gamakichi, meanwhile, was still running away when Kaminaru caught up to him and pressed his front paw against the toadling's back. Gamakichi felt pressure on his lungs, he now could hardly breath.

"Mo, I got him!" Kaminaru called

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Kaminaru had barely time to react when Gamabunta arrived and kicked him hard. Kaminaru went flying and landed right into Mo.

"Pops!" Gamakichi called for his father

"If you place one of your claws on my son, I'll kill you!" Gamabunta threatened the Thunder Wolf Dragon as he drew his tsuba

"Just try it!" Mo snarled at him as he arrived.

Mo threw himself towards the Toad, but Bunta jumped and Mo's fangs closed in the air. Mo could barely avoid being crushed by Gamabunta's weight when he fell down. Kaminaru tried to counterattack with his Thunder Armor. Gamabunta grinned

"_**Teppodama!**_" he shouted as he spat a liquid bullet at Kaminaru. Kaminaru was electrocuted due to the water of the bullet and the electricity that surrounded his entire body. He collapsed, half-roasted and unconscious. Mo looked horrified at his partner.

"My turn!" Calcifer grinned, "_**Katon: Kazan Bakuhatsu!**_ (N/A- Fire Release: Volcanic Burst)"

Calcifer charged a fire ball in his mouth, stood on his two back legs and hit the ground hard, the fire ball in his mouth was launched into the ground and it headed towards Mo. The Ice Wolf Dragon was sent flying towards one of the stone walls, the air smelled like burned fur. His back legs were burned along with his tail. Mo fell unconscious next to Kaminaru. Gamabunta turned to his son as he sheathed his tsuba.

"Gamakichi, are you okay?" he asked, concern notably in his voice

Gamakichi, however, was still paralyzed. After a while, in an unknown impulse, he suddenly hugged his father tightly. Maybe it was because a few seconds ago he had been scared for his life; the Thunder Wolf Dragon had caught him. He thought about the things he could have done to him, it was scary. Gamabunta sighed as he caressed his son's hind head. After a few seconds, Jiraiya, Naruto and Tsunade arrived.

"What happened? We saw the explosion from the tunnel!" Naruto inquired worried

"Where were you while we dealt with Kaminaru and Mo… again?" Saiko asked annoyed

"We were looking for you, guys!" Jiraiya replied

"Please, tell me you know where the tunnel that leads out of this city is!" Ryu desperately asked them

"Don't worry, it's near here!" Tsunade smiled

Ryu looked up. "_Thank you_," he thought

"And did you find Rayver?"

"I'm… right here…" Rayver replied painfully

"Wow… you look a bit… scary…" Jiraiya commented

"What happened to you?" Naruto asked

"Kaminaru struck me in the stomach with his Thunder Armor." Rayver replied as he could barely stand

"Oh, dear! Are you okay?" Tsunade asked with concern in her voice

"I'm still alive, so I suppose I am. But I'm normally very slow…"

"Just to warn you, Rayver is very pessimist." Calcifer reminded the trio of humans

"Can we go now, please?" Ryu asked desperately as he dragged Saiko with him by the ear

"Hey! Stop it, it hurts!" Saiko complained as h struggled trying to free his ear from Ryu's grasp.

"What's wrong with Ryu?" Naruto asked

"He has claustrophobia. Well, in reality, the Wind Tribe is known for their claustrophobia. Maybe because they are used to open, spaces and not caves like this." Rayver explained

"So it's as if Calcifer was afraid of the water because he is from the Fire Tribe?" Gamakichi inquired

"Correct!"

"Let's catch up with those two already!" Calcifer annoyingly added as he went the same way Naruto, Tsunade and Jiraiya had arrived by earlier. Soon he was followed by the others. Gamakichi had no strength to walk and his father had to carry him in his arms.

XOXOXOXOXO

Meanwhile, outside the city under the tree, Gamatatsu was asleep and sobbing constantly. He was in Sakura's arms. Sakura couldn't believe how dependant Gamatatsu was of his father; he looked like a three-year old human child. But maybe this was natural because he had no mother; he lacked that feeling of being loved by the female being that brought him to the world. Gamatatsu kicked the air and cradled in Sakura's arms. After a while, the group came out of the cave, Sakura noticed the new addition. She also noticed Gamakichi was cradled in his father's arms, what had happened?

"Hey, did something happen with those two Wolf Dragons?" she inquired

"Don't worry; they won't bother us for a while." Calcifer smirked proudly

"Ryu Sensei!" Pan called as he and Beau came running from the bushes.

"Kaminaru-Sama and Mo-Sama went after you, but I see you took care of them?" Beau grinned

The Wolf Dragon's voices awakened Gamatatsu; he noticed his father was back. Gamakichi hopped off his father's arms.

"Daddy!" Gamatatsu called for his father as he almost immediately jumped to his arms, "I missed you, daddy!"

Gamabunta couldn't help but smile and scratched his younger son's head. Naruto was surprised.

"_I have never seen the Chief Toad act so… affectionate, it even appears it's not him…_" he thought to himself

Gamakichi, meanwhile, was having his own thoughts at the moment. He couldn't believe his brother still acted as if he had 1 year old, but he couldn't do anything about it: a memory came back into Gamakichi's mind…

_*flashback*_

_Gamakichi cried bitterly, his eyes were closed shut, trying to prevent tears from coming out of them. His father was in the couch, giving the bottle to his baby brother. Gamalyra had passed on a few days ago, but yet it always seemed like yesterday. Gamakichi lifted his eyes to see his father; Gamabunta's eyes, unlike his, had no tears coming out of them. However, he could see the sorrow and pain in them. He missed Lyra more than anyone else, he had spent most of his life with her. Gamatatsu finished eating, Bunta placed away the feeding bottle. Gamatatsu struggled in his father's arms and kicked the air._

"_Ma, ma…" he tried to speak_

_Both Gamakichi and Gamabunta looked surprised at the baby Toadling. He also missed his mother, though both knew he would not remember her. He had only seen her for six months…_

"_Gamakichi, are you okay?" Gamabunta asked his older son as he looked at him_

_Gamakichi couldn't stand the pain anymore and swiftly hopped next to his father. Then he hugged him tightly and cried even louder than before, he nuzzled against his father's coat. _

"_I miss mom…" was all Gamakichi could whisper in broken words_

"_I miss her too…" was the reply from his father_

_Gamabunta sighed and caressed the back of Gamakichi's head; Gamakichi's eyes began to shutter as slowly fell asleep next to his father._

_*end flashback*_

Gamakichi wanted to cry, but he didn't want to cry in front of his father.

"Well, I guess we should go after Yoshiko, then." Saiko commented

"But where should we start looking?" Ryu asked

"Obviously in a cold place, genius!" Calcifer exclaimed

"The Land of the Snow is the only place where there is cold…" Sakura commented

"But it would take about a week to get there!" Pan exclaimed uncredously

"There's a short-cut…" Rayver commented

"What? a short-cut?" Naruto inquired

"It's a tunnel that goes under a mountain and at the other end you can enter the Land if the Snow."

"Hey, hey, hey, hold on! You mean we have to go UNDERGROUND? AGAIN?" Ryu asked alarmed

"Oh, come on, Wind Bag. It's just a tunnel…" Calcifer mocked at the Wind Wolf Dragon

"I will remember something similar when we go to visit Yang. I will just change the word *tunnel* by *water*, Coal Breath". Ryu replied

"Shut up, you both!" Saiko complained

"Pops, we will need warm clothes." Gamakichi announced to his father.

"I know, but we forgot the cloaks." Gamabunta told his son

"Bunta, I think you should port back to Myoboku and get the cloaks, I will summon you after five minutes." Jiraiya commented

"that's a good idea…" Tsunade said

"very well, summon me in five minutes." Gamabunta said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"well, meanwhile we should go to the tunnel." Naruto suggested

"let's go, then." Sakura said

"I'm hungry." Gamatatsu said

Everyone let out a collective sigh of frustration

"we'll eat when we arrive to the entrance of the cave, but now we must go."

"I just hope Pops won't take long, or we will have to wait for him." Gamakichi added

The group continued to the short-cut, jumping from tree to tree with their new companion.


	16. Through The tunnel

Howling Dragon

Chapter 16- Through the Tunnel

The group was following Rayver to the mountain tunnel, in the way Jiraiya tried to make a conversation with Rayver.

"So, Rayver… how did you find out about this tunnel?" he inquired

"… when I arrived in the city, I heard some shinobi talking about this mountain and something about taking something to the ruler of the Land of the Snow…" Rayver replied calmly

"Speaking of which, did you dig that tunnel? You know, the one we used to enter Dokutsugakure…" Saiko inquired

"No, that tunnel was way too perfect to have been dug by a poor-digger like me."

"Rayver, if you don't change that attitude I swear that-!" Calcifer was snarling when he gave a bad jump and fell off the tree into his face.

"Calcifer!" Naruto called concerned as he and the others landed right next to the Fire Wolf Dragon. Calcifer sat down and rubbed his snout with his front paws.

"Stupid branch!" he complained

"Hey, don't blame the branch for your clumsiness!" Ryu joked

"Clumsy? CLUMSY, ME?

"Hey, don't tell me you don't know how to accept a joke!"

"How dare you call me clumsy when you were the clumsiest back when we were training with Yang?"

"_You have to be kidding me…_" Tsunade thought to herself

"_It has been only one day since they last argued and they're already arguing again?_" Naruto thought frustrated

"And here we go all déjà vu again_…_Saiko commented

"You don't know what you're saying! I was faster than you!" Ryu snarled

"Oh, yeah! So fast that you couldn't even take a simple jar from Yang-sensei!"

"Do you want to solve this, Coal Breath?"

"Why not, Wind Bad?"

"**Baton: Kage no Tsume **(N/A-Shadow Release: Shadow Claw)!" Rayver snarled angrily as he formed a dark claw-shaped aura around his front paws and struck both Ryu and Calcifer in the stomach. Both peered down their ears in pain and gritted their fangs

"Oh, crap… I had forgotten how much this hurt…" Ryu murmured painfully

"Damn you, Rayver…" Calcifer commented in pain as he and Ryu fell to the ground

"It's the only thing my Shadow Claw is useful for…" Rayver added

"Thank you!" Saiko commented as he looked up

"At least they didn't kill each other… Gamakichi commented

"Where's that cave? I told Bunta I'd summon him in five minutes…"

"It was a few meters over there…" Rayver replied as he looked towards the north, a mountain was visible.

"Why must we have to go in a cave?" Ryu inquired nervously

"Do you have a better idea?" Naruto asked

"Well… we could climb up the rock ladder, go up the mountain, descend on the other side and avoid the cave completely!"

"If you're so eager in climbing a mountain, then go to the Ice Tribe's Alps! You heard Sakura, it would take almost a week to climb up the mountain and then descend it! Besides, where would we get food, GENIUS?" Saiko spoke

"Let's just get this over with…"

After saying this, Ryu reluctantly walked towards the direction Rayver had looked at.

"Wow, he surely is claustrophobic…" Tsunade commented

"Big brother, I'm hungry…" Gamatatsu told his older brother

"Just a little longer…" Gamakichi replied, trying to calm down his little brother the way their father did.

The group soon went after Ryu.

XOXOXOXOXO

Orochimaru opened the door to the room he held the Great Alpha Captive. The White Wolf Dragon peered up his ears, but chose to pretend to be sleeping; he had no intentions to speak with the "Snake Man".

"so, Great Alpha, you're supposedly the most powerful dragon in existence?" Orochimaru inquired with a twisted smile

The Great Alpha didn't answer

"No, what am I saying? If you were so powerful as they say you wouldn't have been caught."

No reply

"I suppose you have heard about… The **Kyukyoku Okahenkan** (N/A- Ultimate Wolf Transformation)"

At this point, the Great Alpha's eyes went open wide in shock.

"_How did you find out about that forbidden technique?"_ he asked through telepathy, as the muzzle in his mouth unallowed him to speak.

"How doesn't matter, what matters is WHEN I will use it to show Konohagakure my wrath!" Orochimaru replied insanely

"_That form is forsaken! It was sealed by our ancestors so none of our summoners could transform into that monster!"_

"Until now,"

The Great Alpha at this point tilted his head to a side in confusion, Orochimaru snapped his fingers. Two Otogakure shinobi came in holding a giant scroll, the Great Alpha was horrified.

"_It can't be!_" he thought

"That is, my dear Great Alpha. Once those idiots come and try to rescue you, they will feel the definition of pain."

The Great Alpha laid back his ears and frowned, then he calmly rested his head on the cold floor once again.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Summoning Jutsu!"

After the smoke cleared, Gamabunta was standing in front of Jiraiya. He was holding long cloaks exactly of his size and his sons' in his left arm. They were a few meters in front of a cave; a large lake was running in front of them. Calcifer was throwing pebbles at it until Rayver stopped him

"Do not disturb the water." As all he said before heading back to the group, much to Calcifer's annoyance. Unbetsknown to them, however, something moved in the water. Pan peered up his ears and looked towards the lake

"Guys, there's something in the water…" he muttered

"It's only your imagination." Calcifer replied

"No, really, I SAW something!"

"Maybe it's just a fish," Beau added

Saiko, meanwhile, was checking the cave and soon turned towards the group.

"Yep, it's safe to go in, so let's go," he announced

"Don't worry, Ryu. It's not as bad as it seems, it's just for a few hours…" Ryu tried to calm himself down

"Daddy, I'm scared…" Gamatatsu whispered to his father as he hugged him

"Don't worry, little one, this won't last long, I promise," Gamabunta smiled to his son

The group entered the cave, Calcifer engulfed himself in flames so that there would be less dark. However, the light was barely helpful, so Naruto had to light up a torch.

"Damn it, this is why I hate caves…" Ryu commented

"Hey, Rayver, what do you see?" Saiko asked the Shadow Wolf Dragon

Rayver narrowed his eyes, and this changed from orange to yellow.

"Well, this cave doesn't seem natural at all, there are stairs and the tunnels are shaped like doors…" he explained as he looked around

"This might be the secret tunnel f the Land of the Snow…" Sakura added

"Secret tunnel?" Gamakichi inquired as he tilted his head to a side

"It's a tunnel used for the Daimyo's safety; in case of an enemy invasion, guards would lead the Daimyo to safety through this tunnel or to take confidential packages to him…"

"So maybe that's what the shinobi from Dokutsugakure were talking about…" Rayver muttered

"OW!"

Saiko looked at his front paw and noticed something sharp had plunked into it.

"oh, great, just what I needed!" he complained as he pulled out the sharp object from his paw, but when he looked down to see what he had stepped onto, he saw it was a skeleton. Saiko stepped back horrified, the others soon followed.

"What's that skeleton doing there?" Tsunade asked shocked

When Rayver looked around, he realized there were skeletons everywhere.

"This place is filled with human skeletons!" he exclaimed horrified

"Secret tunnel? This seems more like a secret tomb!" Jiraiya exclaimed

"Let's get out of here before the thing that made all of those skeletons comes for us too!" Calcifer exclaimed

Suddenly, Naruto was dragged outside by something pulling his leg. Everyone looked back and was horrified to see a giant octopus had caught Naruto.

"What is that thing?" Tsunade asked shocked

"I don't know; what I know is that we have to save Naruto!" Sakura replied as she ran towards the octopus, but it simply knocked her out by hitting her with one of its tentacles. Sakura hit the rock wall hard. Naruto could only struggle violently to get free, but the octopus hardened its grip on him and opened its mouth. Jiraiya jumped to the tentacle that was holding Naruto and began to cut it with a kunai, Saiko and Tsunade rushed to help Sakura and Rayver threw his katana at the tentacle; the octopus roared in pain and dropped Naruto, who was caught by Ryu.

"Go into the cave!" Jiraiya ordered

The group hurried into the cave, the octopus attempting to follow them. Calcifer, after thinking about something as the octopus tried to take Gamakichi, he threw various fire balls at the ceiling. The octopus' tentacles were crushed as the exit of the cave was sealed off by the rocks.

When everything was calm, Ryu shot a dagger glare at Calcifer

"COAL BREATH! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! NOW WE'RE TRAPPED IN HERE!" he shouted furious

"Hey, it was neither this or to be eaten by that cephalopod!" Calcifer defended himself

"Great, what now?" Sakura asked

"All right, first, Calcifer, a bit of light please." Saiko commented, Calcifer did as told and engulfed himself in flames, "second, we'll need some torches and third, Rayver, you should use your nocturnal vision to see what's ahead!"

Jiraiya and Naruto took some sticks and lighted them up with Calcifer's fire; Gamatatsu was sobbing in his father's arms, Ryu was still on Ryu's back.

"I suppose the only thing we can do now is to cross this cave…" Tsunade commented

"That is if we don't end up like these skeletons!" Ryu replied nervously as he looked at a nearby skeleton

"We'll never get out of here…" Rayver muttered to himself

"Rayver, shut up, would you?" Calcifer snarled

"Let's just get going; the sooner we go, the sooner we'll get out of here." Sakura added

"If I'm correct, we should take about… four days in getting out on the other side of this tunnel…" Saiko calculated

"WHAT? FOUR DAYS?" Ryu asked shocked

"Hey, low your voice or you could make the cavern collapse with your screams!"

"Sorry, but…"

Ryu sighed frustrated

"This enclosed space makes me nervous, you know…" he commented in low voice

"Well, if you're staying here to chat, see you later," Calcifer annoyingly said as he went towards one of the passages of the cavern. Soon he was followed by the rest.

Some hours later, the group was still walking with hopes of seeing the daylight on the other end of the cave. However, the other end was still a long way to go, and to enworse things, they didn't even know how much time passed, if days or hours. However, the cave had positive spots: they could see the stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, and these sometimes had the shapes of many objects: castles, animals, even people. However, after a while, they arrived at a bifurcation: there were three entrances, and each of them lead to a different place.

"Great, just what we needed!" Calcifer snarled annoyed

"Which way should we go?" Naruto inquired

"Don't ask me; I'm too stupid to figure out…" Rayver replied

"_I'm not going to kill Rayver, I'm not going to kill Rayver… I'M GOING TO KILL RAYVER!"_ Calcifer chanted in his mind as he resisted the urge to give Rayver a smack in his head with his tail

"While we think of something, we should rest a bit, don't you think?" Saiko asked

"I don't know you, but I'm taking a break," Jiraiya replied as he sat down

Soon, the group had settled down to rest. Ryu was still nervous, but decided to take a nap. Pan fell asleep next to his sensei, Beau kept staring at the stalactites. Calcifer and Rayver, too, had fallen asleep. Naruto was talking with Gamakichi

"What do you think? Which path should we take?" he asked

"I don't know… it might be any of the three…" Gamakichi replied

"Are things with the Chief Toad better?"

"Not at all, we still argue often…"

"Hey, when Kaminaru and Mo were defeated back at Dokutsu, I noticed you were hugging your father…"

Gamakichi sighed with this; he was right, back at Dokutsugakure he had hugged his father after the latter saved him from Mo. But why…? Maybe, deep inside, he still was the little Gamakichi that depended on his father…

"I don't know what happened, maybe it was a reflex…" was all he said

Meanwhile, Gamatatsu was in his father's arms, sobbing. Gamabunta looked down at his son and scratched his head softly

"Daddy, I'm scared…" Gamatatsu whispered as he looked around

"Don't worry, I'm here," his father replied

Gamatatsu just yawned and cradled in his father's arms once again. Just s Jiraiya had sat next to him, Gamabunta then looked over at Gamakichi.

"You two are not still getting along, are you?" Jiraiya asked

"unfortunately, no. he won't' listen to me. Each time I tell him to do something he disobeys me, INTENTIONALLY." was the reply

"He reminds me of you when we were young,"

"I was not like that!"

"He's got the prideful part missing,"

"Don't remind me…"

"_Like father, like son…_"

Gamakichi was sitting next to Naruto; they were talking about Gamakichi's mother.

"She cooked very well, pops didn't eat anything she didn't cook…" he was explaining

"Really? And what did she prepare to eat?" Naruto inquired

"Roasted grasshoppers, vapory flies and, pops' favorite, fried larvae in sauce. But most of all, the tea she made as incomparable, it had an exceptional sweetness…"

"Does the Chief Toad like larvae?"

"Yeah, you should see him when he's eating them; he looks so happy…"

"What happened when your mom got pregnant of Gamatatsu?"

"It's a long story, she used to be more careful because she presented Gamatatsu would be a bit fat… you should have seen how happy she was when she had my brother inside her womb…"

"Granny-Tsunade says that when a woman is pregnant, her look changes… her look has sweetness, joy, and the eagerness to bring the tiny baby into the world…"

"The only bad thing is when childbirth comes; it must hurt a lot…"

"But Granny-Tsunade also says that when you see the creature that grew inside you for the past 9 months, you realize it has been worth of it…"

Gamakichi sighed and looked at his little brother in his father's arms. He had been told by his father that their mother would have gladly been trough the painful labor once and again, just to give her maternal cares and love to them. He remembered when Gamatatsu was born…

_*flashback*_

_Gamalyra was in labor… again. However, this time they had better luck; they could get a doctor, so Gamabunta's presence was not needed, despite he had insisted stubbornly; he wanted to be with his wife when their second child was born. However, the doctor had said he would just make her nervous, and that might hurt the baby. He reluctantly had to stay in the other room; Gamakichi was sitting next to him. He was nervous also; he was worried about his mother. Judging by the sound of her screams, she must be suffering very much. When Lyra let out another piercing scream, Gamakichi hugged his father tightly._

"_I don't like it…" he whispered_

"_What?" Gamabunta inquired softly at his son_

"_Having a child. It's weird…" _

"_Don't worry; it will be over soon…"_

_Gamabunta, however, didn't sound very sure of that… after another scream, Gamakichi hugged his father even more tightly… why was his baby brother or sister taking so long in coming out? Maybe he was afraid, afraid of seeing the light for the first time, to get out of its mother's womb…_

"_Pops, why is mom suffering so much?" Gamakichi asked at the verge of tears_

"_Well, it's very painful to go through all of that, but… I'm a male, I wouldn't know what to tell you…"_

_Finally, they heard a baby cry. The baby had finally decided to come out, apparently. A female toad of pink skin opened the door slightly_

"_Lord Gamabunta, you may come in to see your wife," she announced with a slight smile_

"_Finally…" Gamabunta said relieved as he rushed into the room, Gamakichi following. Once in there, they noticed Gamalyra was holding a small bundle in her arms. The bundle struggled slightly, Lyra rocked at it softly. Bunta got closer to her, she handed him the bundle_

"_Bunta, dear. There's someone that wants to meet you…" she smiled_

_Gamabunta removed one of the blankets and he found a tiny Toadling with yellow skin and orange markings around his eyes, he apparently had inherited his mother's appearance. The baby was sleeping peacefully; he often struggled and tried to adjust himself._

"_It's a nice, healthy baby boy…" the doctor announced_

"_Pops, how are we going to call him?" Gamakichi asked _

"_How about… Gamatatsu?" Gamalyra suggested weakly_

"_It's a beautiful name, my dear…" Bunta smiled as he caressed his wife's cheek softly, then he ducked to show Gamakichi his new baby brother_

"_Hi, Gamatatsu," Gamakichi smiled at his little brother_

_Gamatatsu sneezed and opened his eyes slightly, he looked at his older brother and giggled._

_*end flashback*_

Gamakichi couldn't contain a slight smile; he looked over at his brother once again. His father was scratching his head softly; Gamatatsu yawned and nuzzled against his father's chest before falling asleep. He looked like when he was a baby, each time he used to fall asleep on his mother's arms. Finally, Saiko stood

"Guys, we are taking the second tunnel," he announced

"And how do you know that, genius?" Calcifer inquired as he peered up his ears

"Well, since the Land of the Snow is to the north, the most logical choice would be the second tunnel,"

"But why are you so sure that the second tunnel goes north? We're underground," Jiraiya commented

"I'm an EARTH Wolf Dragon; these things are my specialty,"

"Let's get moving!" Ryu nervously said as he went directly into the tunnel, soon the others followed.

And their travel through the cave continued. There was still no sign of the end of the cavern, but yet they continued. Finally, they came to a VERY large chamber. The reason it didn't collapse was because of the large pillars that supported it.

"What's this?" Naruto asked

"This seems to be an abandoned city… I think…" Rayver replied

"Why would people build a city under a mountain?" Ryu asked nervously

"If you don't know, why would I?" Saiko replied rolling his eyes, "I might know lots of things, but this is not one of them."

The group decided to continue; however, Calcifer peered up his ears and looked around alarmed. He had this feeling of "something was following us".

"Hey, Coal Breath, Move it!" Ryu shouted at him

"Shut up! I'm trying to hear something!" Calcifer replied annoyed as he peered up his ear again

"Oh, come on! What could you possibly hear in an abandoned place like-"

Ryu was cut short when a kunai nailed himself in a pillar next to him

"…this," Ryu finished nervously

"What was that?" Tsunade shouted

"Oh no…" Saiko muttered in terror

"What? What is it?" Naruto asked stunned

"Mole imps…"

"What are those things?" Tsunade asked as she avoided a kunai

"Mole imps are humanoid-like moles that inhabit caverns like this. Usually, I wouldn't worry about them, but in a place as big like this…"

"In my Tribe's capital city, which is located in a cavern almost as big like this, we have a few of these creatures like this. But OUR mole imps are not so violent and are a bit smarter; in fact, some families have them as servants." Rayver explained

"Do you think these things are like those?" Gamakichi inquired afraid

"I don't think so! If they were, they wouldn't be throwing kunais at us!" Jiraiya answered as he avoided various kunais

"These must be the things that left over those skeletons back at the entrance!" Sakura exclaimed

"I'll take care of those kunais!" Ryu finally snarled, "Sai-!"

"NO, STOP! DON'T MAKE A CYCLONE IN HERE!" Saiko said horrified

"Why not?" Ryu asked as he avoided another kunai.

"If you make a cyclone in there, all of that wind would cause the stalagmites to fall from the ceiling! And believe me when I tell you that it will be a big problem in THIS cavern!"

"Then what do we do, genius?" Calcifer snarled

"Speaking scientifically… RUN!"

The group ran in a random direction, they just wanted to get away from the mole imps. The creatures ran after them, they were furred, humanoid creatures with blood red eyes. They had sharp claws on their hands and feet, their teeth were yellow and they had pointy ears. However, they were clearly intelligent enough to make kunais along with bows and arrows. However, everyone saw more of those hideous creatures crawling in from holes in the ceiling. Gamabunta wrapped Gamatatsu tightly in with a piece of his coat, Gamatatsu sobbed and cradled. But soon, they were surrounded by the creatures

"Great, what now?" Ryu asked

"We'll have to fight!" Jiraiya replied

"But it's risky! All of that noise could make the stalagmites-" Saiko was about to say

"Stop bothering with those blasted spikes in the ceiling! It's either that or to be eaten by these underground demons!" Calcifer snarled

"Could this be worse than it already is!" Gamakichi asked

Suddenly, there was a loud sound on one of the sides of the cavern, a reddish light emanated from it. The mole imps looked at it and rushed out of the place, some crawled back into the holes of the ceiling while others ran for their lives

"Great, what now?" Gamabunta annoyingly commented

The light each time came closer to them, and the growls became louder.

"To be honest, Chief Toad, I have no idea…" Saiko replied

"Saiko doesn't know something? Who are you and what have you done with Saiko?" Ryu joked, but the seriousness in his face showed that he also was intrigued by this new thing

"…it's a Battoakuma (N/A- Bat Demon)" Rayver muttered with a foreboding tone

"A what?" Sakura inquired with a confused look on her face

"An ancient demon that inhabits the darkest places in the world."

The growls now were louder than before, it began to get hot

"That monster is too much for us to handle… run!"

The group then ran to the opposite direction of the light. Tsunade spotted a door in the ends of the cavern

"Everyone, head over that door!" she yelled

As the light came closer, they went through the door. However, as they were going down the stairs, Naruto had to stop because the rest of the stairs was gone. Fortunately, there was another line of stairs going down the right side of the door.

"And where will we get out of here?" Jiraiya asked

"We should be close to the exit!" Saiko exclaimed

The group went down the stairs, but soon was in another predicament: there was a pit in the stairs, it was not so big, although.

"Who goes first?" Naruto asked

"Bunta, you go!" Jiraiya exclaimed

"Alright!" Gamabunta replied as he took Gamakichi in his right arm and jumped the pit with no trouble. Next were Tsunade, Pan and Beau. However, an arrow hit next to them and went flying. Everyone noticed there were mole imps throwing arrows at them.

"I've had enough of those bastards!" Rayver snapped angrily, "Naitoshedo!"

Rayver's attacked hit most imps and they fell from the structure they were throwing their arrows from. A part of the stairs was broken and the pit now became bigger.

"Sakura, Saiko, now you!" Jiraiya exclaimed

Sakura rode on Saiko's back, and the Earth Wolf Dragon jumped to the other side of the stairs safely. When Jiraiya was about to throw Calcifer…

"Don't you even think of it! No one can throw a Fire Wolf Dragon!" Calcifer snarled as he took a few steps back and then jumped to the other side of the stairs, but he didn't jump well and he held himself with his claws on the stairs. He tried to get on the stairs, Sakura tried to help him

"Not from my ears!" Calcifer complained as Saiko tried to pull Sakura to pull Calcifer up

Rayver and Jiraiya jumped. Rayver made it, but Jiraiya would have fallen into the chasm below if Gamabunta hadn't caught him with his tongue. But when Ryu and Naruto were about to jump, another part of the stairs broke and it fell into the chasm. Now a regular jump wouldn't be enough to get to the other side; and to enworse things, a giant boulder fell behind them and shattered the part of the stairs that maintained the structure stable. Now the stairs Ryu and Naruto were on began to shake from side to side. The rest could only look at them helplessly, trying o think of a way to help them.

"What do we do now?" Naruto asked shocked as he tried not to fall from the stairs

"I have an idea!" Ryu exclaimed, "Bend down forward!"

"Why?"

"Just do it! It's just a theory, but it might work!"

Naruto did as told and bended down forward, as well as Ryu. Their weight made the stairs stoop to the other side of the pit.

"Naruto, get ready to jump!" Ryu warned

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Naruto replied

"NOW!"

When the stairs hit the other side of the pit, Naruto and Ryu jumped safely. Then the group went down the rest of the stairs.

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked shocked as she avoided some arrows

"Look, there's a bridge over there!" Calcifer announced as he spotted a bridge a few meters from them.

"If we cross the bridge, we should be safe!" Saiko exclaimed as he dashes towards the bridge

The group dashed towards the bridge, the arrows hit the floor near them. But one of the arrows struck Gamabunta's right arms.

"ARGH!" the toad yelped in pain as he looked at the arrow now struck in his body

"Pops! Are you okay?" Gamakichi asked his father in concern

"It's… okay…"

Suddenly, large flames rose behind the group and a colossal bat made of flames formed itself and roared at the group

"Oh, come on!" Jiraiya exclaimed annoyed

"You have to be kidding me!" Calcifer annoyingly snarled

"Hurry, to the bridge!" Ryu shouted as the he and Naruto headed to the bridge.

Soon the group safely crossed the bridge, but the bat demon roared and destroyed the bridge with a fireball before Naruto and Ryu could cross

"Oh, damn it!" Naruto cursed under his breath

"We must do something or we will be this monster's dinner!" Ryu exclaimed as he looked back at the bat that was dangerously close to them.

"But what can we do? I don't know any water jutsu! And your wind will only feed up the flames!"

"…"

Ryu looked at the ceiling and noticed the stalactites hanging from the ceiling, but they were clearly in the verge of falling. A grin drawed on the Wind Wolf Dragon's face.

"Why are you smiling? This is not the time to smile! We're about to be roasted by a giant bat!" Naruto exclaimed irritated

".. Naruto, do you have a exploding tag?" Ryu just asked

"Yeah, why?"

"Throw it at the ceiling."

"Why!

"Just do it! Trust me!"

Naruto took an exploding tag from his pocket, lighted it and threw it at the ceiling.

"Saikuron!" Ryu shouted as he launched a cyclone towards the exploding tag, the wind fueled the fire and it combined into a exploding cyclone. It hit the ceiling and the stalactites fell from the ceiling, just on the Battoakuma's wings, trapping it. The Battoakuma roared in anger and pain and struggled violently to get free, launching flamethrowers everywhere and struggling violently to get free.

"Now's our chance, Naruto!" Ryu called, "get on my back! I'll jump!"

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked stunned

"Listen, those stalactites won't hold on the bat for much longer! We have to hurry!"

Naruto, though doubtful at first, finally got on the Wind Wolf Dragon's back, and the latter dashed towards the bridge at the speed of a bullet. Naruto clutched on Ryu's fur tightly and closed his eyes shut. Ryu jumped…

And landed on the other side safely.

"Naruto… Naruto, its okay. We are on the other side…"

Naruto opened his left eye and noticed that, indeed, they had made it to the other side.

"Whew… I thought we were going to fall into the pit…"

"Naruto!" Sakura called

The rest of the group rushed next to the pair and looked at them. The Battoakuma still struggled to break free; Gamabunta tried to stop the bleeding from his wound, but removed his hand when jolts of pain ran through his right arm when he touched the arrow.

"I thought you were going to be the Battoakuma's meal!" Pan exclaimed excited

"If that's had been me, I would have surely been eaten…" Rayver added

"Rayver, I'm so happy about escaping that Battoakuma that I won't berate you as always!" Ryu exclaimed happily

Suddenly, a fire ball was about to his Jiraiya … if Calcifer hadn't stopped it. The Battoakuma had freed its right wing and was throwing fire balls at them.

"Let's get the heck out of here before that animal frees and tries to eat us again!" Calcifer snarled as the he dashed towards the nearest cavern

Soon he was followed by the group, and they set out once again. However, with Gamabunta's bleeding wound, they had to stop for a while so Tsunade could cure it. She carefully examined it.

"Luckily, it didn't g struck on the bone, but I have to get that arrow out," she said

"Bunta, do you want something to bite?" Jiraiya asked his long time friend

"No… it's okay… I won't scream…" Gamabunta replied softly

Tsunade nodded and grabbed the arrow, then slowly took it out. Gamabunta gritted his teeth tightly and frowned, breathing deeply and resisting the urge to scream. Gamakichi was worried about his father; it surely must hut a lot. Finally, Tsunade took out the arrow completely and wiped the wound with a towel before wrapping it in a bandage. Gamatatsu jumped to his father's arms and hugged him; Bunta smiled slightly and caressed his son's cheek softly. Pan and Beau suddenly rushed in

"Hey, everyone! We found an exit!" both yelled at the same time

"Finally!" Ryu exclaimed relieved

"Where is it?" Calcifer asked

"Over that tunnel!" Beau answered, pointing a nearby tunnel

"Let's go!" Ryu added quickly as he rushed towards the tunnel, soon being followed by the rest.


	17. Frozen Cold

Howling Dragon

Chapter 17- Frozen Cold

***OMAKE- Trackers***

A spotlight turned on over Pantalaimon and he coughed a bit.

"Hello, everyone! Today I will talk to you about trackers!" he said excitedly as a board with pictures of Kaminaru and Mo appeared in a puff of smoke

"The Tracker Rank is a rank of great importance in Wolf Dragon culture. Trackers, as their name suggests it, track down enemies or people they're spying on. Most Trackers have exceptional smelling sense and are promoted when the Council finds out about this gift. Mo-sama and MY dad are trackers, so I'm going to best tracker in all time!" Pan explained

Suddenly, Beaucephalis came running holding a bag in his mouth

"Hey, Pan! You forgot three important things about Trackers!" he exclaimed

"What are you talking about? I did not!" Pan replied offended

"Yes you did. First, Trackers are not always successful in tracking down enemies and in some cases they might lose the trail, especially if the enemy moves through water. Second, the scent they find doesn't remain on their noses forever and they might forget the scent's fragrance unless they keep smelling objects that possesses the same scent. And, finally…"

Beau grinned and began searching in the bag, after searching in it for a while he finally took his head out of it- he held a stinking cheese in his mouth and placed it in front of Pan

"Rotten cheese might disable the tracker's smell sense for some time!" he excitedly explained

"And why did you bring that thing with you-?" Pan was about to ask, but didn't have time to react when Beau held the cheese just in front of his nose…

Pantalaimon's face turned green

"I'm going to vomit!" he exclaimed as he ran away for the bathroom

"The best tracker in all time, uh?" Beau grinned before his curiosity got the better of him and he smelled the rotten cheese… and he fainted backwards

***END OMAKE***

XOXOXOXOXO

When the group exited the cave, the light was too bright for their eyes so they had to shield them with their arm. When their pupils adjusted to the light, they could clearly see pine trees covered in snow and the floor was filled with it. They felt the bitter cold attack their skin, they could even see their own breaths when they exhaled. Gamabunta gave his sons their cloaks before putting on his own.

"Well… what do we do now?" Calcifer asked

"ACHOO!" Saiko sneezed as he sniffed, "oh, great… I think I'm about to catch a cold…"

"How much time did we take in crossing that hell?" Ryu inquired as he looked back at the cave

"Well, I'd say about… three days…"

"WHAT? Jiraiya and Naruto yelled simultaneously

"Time flies when you're crossing a cave, uh?" Pan joked

"Do you think Yoshiko is still alive?" Tsunade wondered as she looked round

"ACHOO! I hope so. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can go back to the warm Fire Country…" Saiko commented as he sniffed once again

"But where are we going to sleep? I don't think sleeping on the outside is a good idea, we might catch a cold…" Sakura pointed out as she trembled and put on warmer clothes

"I think there is a village near here…" Jiraiya replied

"Speaking of which, it's weird Kaminaru-sama and Mo-sama still have not caught up with us…" Beau commented

"Great, my stomach is still aching from that last battle with them…" Rayver added coldly

"ACHOO! ARGH! Let's go already before I get worse!" Saiko complained as he walked away in a random direction, he just wanted to reach a warm place

"Really, I wonder what has delayed those two," Naruto commented to Ryu in low voice as the group followed Saiko

"I don't know, but they surely must have awakened like three days ago and they lost our trail… luckily…" Ryu muttered in reply

"But, hey, how are we going to return to the Fire Country?" Gamakichi asked yawning

"…"

Ryu couldn't answer; they hadn't thought about that…

"_We're in trouble…_" he thought to himself as they continued

Meanwhile, Gamatatsu was trembling and cradled in his father's arms, trying to get warm. Gamabunta wrapped his son carefully with his tongue and placed him in his head. Gamatatsu then hopped to cover himself in his father's coat. Saiko was constantly sneezing, much to Calcifer's annoyance; Pan and Beau were also freezing, but preferred not to say anything, as they knew everyone was just as cold as they were. Rayver just walked without talking, he apparently had nothing to say. Tsunade decided to try and start a chat with him

"Hey, Rayver, have you ever been in a place this cold?" she asked him gently

"… only when we went to visit Yoshiko back at Siryo, in the Ice Tribe's domains," Rayver replied as he walked

Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growled

"Hey, Naruto. Was it my imagination or did your stomach growl?" Ryu asked as he turned to look at Naruto

"It was my stomach," Naruto replied

Soon Saiko's stomach growled, and soon was followed by Gamatatsu, Calcifer and Jiraiya.

"Well, apparently all those hours of walking inside that damned cave finally made an effect," Calcifer commented

"If we don't eat something soon, we will collapse in this ice!" Beau added frustrated as he peered down his ears and placed his front paws in his belly

"I have an idea: you guys go and search for a warm place, while we go to hunt something," Pan suggested

"Good idea, but where can we set up a camp? This place is freezing cold!" Naruto commented as he trembled and embraced himself

"Maybe there is a cavern near here or a town or something- ACHOO!" Saiko complained as he sneezed once again

"Saiko, if you don't stop sneezing, I swear that I'm going to place something in your nose!" Calcifer finally snarled irritated

"What do you want me to do? I can't control my sneezing!"

"Stop that!" Ryu stopped them form arguing any further, "Calcifer, Rayver and I will go to hunt something for dinner. The rest should look for a warm place to stay or at least a town. Saiko, I don't think you can come with us with your conditions,"

"Good idea-ACHOO!"

"That's it!" Calcifer couldn't contain himself any longer and threw himself over Saiko. Ryu sighed frustrated

"And here we go again…" he muttered

XOXOXOXOXO

Kaminaru and Mo dashed out of the cave that led to Dokutsugakure. They panted heavily

"What now?" Mo asked

"… We have to look for them again…" Kaminaru replied

"But how? We lost their trail!"

"We know they will go after Yoshiko now,"

"And how the heck are we going to reach the land of the snow before they leave?"

"The same way my son and Beaucephalis found them,"

Mo looked confused at Kaminaru until he finally understood what he meant

"You mean that we will use the Shizunpotaru?" he asked

"Exactly; let's go,"

The Wolf Dragons disappeared in a puff of smoke

XOXOXOXOXO

"ACHOO!" Saiko sneezed once again as mucus dripped off his nose, he sniffed to bring it back into his nose

"Saiko, knock it off already!" Sakura complained annoyed

"How can I help it? I think I caught a cold- ACHOO!"

Sakura sighed frustrated as she tried to light a fire, but the cold breeze always turned off the small amount of fire she made. Naruto and Jiraiya were trembling, often rubbing their arms with their hands to try and warm up. Tsunade was a few steps away from them, rubbing her arms also. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu were on their father's arms, the latter tried to warm them up covering with a piece of his cloak; they had found a cave where to set up a camp, but inside wasn't warmer than outside. Saiko sneezed once again

"We should have brought sweaters!" Jiraiya finally complained as he trembled

"If It serves as comfort, my butt is as frozen as yours, Pervy-Sage," Naruto tried to cheer his sensei up, but to no avail as he himself was freezing

"How can humans stand this-ACHOO!- temperature…?" Saiko muttered to himself

"Speaking of which, how does Yoshiko look like?" Tsunade asked, trying to change the theme of the conversation

"Well, he has got-ACHOO!- pure white fur, a light blue mohawk-ACHOO!- a red cloth tied around his waist and-ACHOO!- he has more fur than me or the others…"

"He sounds like the abominable snow-man.¿," Jiraiya joked, trying to cheer up the group

"Hey, Saiko…" Sakura whispered

"What is it?"

"Can you tell me about you're… Shinobi structure?"

"Well, I suppose that'll help to spend time while Ryu, Calcifer and Rayver come back,"

Sakura, Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade sat down closer to Saiko; Gamabunta just looked at him. His sons had fallen asleep in his arms a while ago.

"Well, at top is the Great Alpha: he ensures everything in Siryo is fine and intervenes when something threatens to end up in a war or when Siryo is in danger. Next is the Council: they make the decisions that are the best for all tribes and ensure the Wolf Dragon code is followed." Saiko explained

"But I thought you said the Great Alpha was at the top…" Sakura didn't understand

"He IS at the top, but he has left the responsibility of the tribes' wellbeing to the Council. The Council follows orders from the Great Alpha when the situation calls for it."

"Oh…"

"The Council consists of five members: the Water Alpha, the Fire Alpha, the Earth Alpha, the Wind Alpha and the Shadow Alpha. They are the leaders of the Five Great Tribes. The ambassadors of the Lighting Tribe, Forest Tribe and Ice Tribe are also unofficial members of the Council."

"Now, the Shinobi structure of all Tribes is the same: first are the Pups; they are the puppies that attend to the Academy. Next are the Apprentices; they are graduates of the academy under the tutelage of an Ookarou. The next rank is the Ookanin; they take more serious missions than the Apprentices, and are stronger too. With age, some of them become Ookarou; they teach in the academy and even command a group of five Apprentices. The Healers cure injuries or illnesses on the Shinobi, minor or major, and ensure their survival. The Trackers are chosen according to their smell sense; their job is to track down enemies or missing-wolves."

Jiraiya and Naruto tried his best not to fall asleep. Sakura and Tsunade, however, had listened every word Saiko had told. The Wolf Dragons' Shinobi structure was almost the same as humans'.

"Hey, guys, do you think those two will track us down?" Naruto commented as he yawned

"I don't think so; they don't know about the tunnel, and even if they did, the bridge is destroyed and they can't cross. We won't have to worry about them for a while." Saiko explained

"But how are we returning to the Fire Country?" Sakura inquired

"…"

Saiko froze in place; they were in BIG trouble…

"ACHOO! Uh… hey, Sakura, could you get closer?"

Sakura did as told and Saiko whispered something to her ear

"What? I don't understand…"

Saiko whispered the same thing again

"Uh? I don't hear…"

Saiko started to get annoyed as he whispered again in Sakura's ear

"What? a bit louder, please…"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW WE WILL GO BACK TO THE FIRE COUNTRY!" Saiko lost control over himself as he yelled at Sakura what he had tried to secretly tell her

"WHAT?" the group was shocked when they heard what Saiko had just said

XOXOXOXOXO

Pan and Beau tried to catch a white hare they had spotted a while ago, but they soon lost sight of it due to the snow. Meanwhile, Ryu, Calcifer and Rayver were panting heavily; they had lost a caribou which would have been a great dinner had they caught it.

"*_pant_*… damn those… *_pant_*… caribous!" Calcifer snarled as he let out steam blow out of his nose

"What are you… *pant*… complaining at?... *pant*" Ryu panted irritated

Rayver, however, didn't say anything. Pan and Beau got closer

"Hey, Ryu-sensei, we missed a hare," Pan sounded ashamed

"Don't worry, Pan, there are more animals around here." Ryu tried to comfort his Gakusei

"Hey, Calcy-sensei," Beau called

"Beaucephalis, how many times are we going through this? Don't call me like that in public!" Calcifer snarled annoyed

"Sorry, but I'm hungry…"

"We are all hungry…"Rayver muttered

"Stop complaining and let's look for another prey," Ryu headed for the same way the caribou had escaped. The others soon followed, but Pan and Beau were already tired and were staying behind.

"I'm tired…" Beau said

"Why don't we rest a bit? I don't think they notice," Pan suggested

"Okay…"

The Wolf Dragon Pups stopped and sat down under a tree. The snowflakes fell from the sky and on their fur; the sky was cloudy and no sunlight passed through the clouds.

"You think Kaminaru-sama and Mo-sama will catch up to us?" Beau asked

"I don't think so…" Pan replied, sadness notable in his voice

"Hey… what do you think of the Chief Toad?"

"I like him… he is quite grumpy, but I like him…

"What about his sons?"

"Gamakichi is a good guy… Gamatatsu doesn't seem to be that brilliant, though…"

"… I hope we can rescue the Great Alpha soon so that everything will go back to normal…"

"The only problem is that we do not know where he is being held,"

"Good point…"

The pups suddenly realized they had lost sight of Ryu and the others.

"Oh, no! Beau, Ryu-sensei, Calcifer and Rayver are gone!" Pan was alarmed

"They're gone for hunting, I know…" Beau replied

"No! I mean we are lost!"

"What?"

"We were distracted and lost them from sight!"

"We have to find them before night!"

The pups quickly stood and frenetically ran around looking for the adults; however, the only things they saw were snow, bushes covered with snow and sometimes frozen ponds. After a while, they realized the harsh truth; they were lost.

Meanwhile, Ryu, Calcifer and Rayver were a few meters away from them looking for a prey they could handle.

"Hey, Pantalaimon, are you sure you don't want to go back…?" Ryu turned around to see his Gakusei, but didn't find him, "Pantalaimon?"

Calcifer realized Pantalaimon was missing and his eyes went open wide; if Pan was no there, Beau likely wasn't there too. When he looked around, he confirmed his suspects when he didn't find nor Pan or Beau.

"I knew it! I knew they should have stayed with the others!" Ryu snarled

"We have to find them before something eats them!" Calcifer replied in horror

"…" Rayver was quiet

"Why you do not say a pessimistic comment?"

"I have nothing to say…"

"Alright, let's calm down!" Ryu was very panicky

"Hehe, you're not giving the example…" Calcifer chuckled darkly

"This is no time for your insulting comments, Coal Breath! We have to find Pan and Beau!"

While they kept arguing, Rayver had already gone in search of the two pups.

Back with Pan and Beau, they wished they had gone with Naruto and the others to find a place to sleep. They hoped they would find a shelter soon or they would freeze to death, or worse, being eaten by a wild animal.

"Great, what now?" Beau asked nervously

"I don't know; maybe if we howl, they will find us," Pan suggested

"But we don't know how to howl properly yet,"

"Then what?"

"We should try to find Yoshiko,"

"What? We don't even know where he could be! Besides, this place is very big! It couls take us days or even weeks!"

"And what should we do, then?"

"Let's try to find the others,"

Pan led the way, Beau followed.

XOXOXOXOXO

Almost 3 hours had passed; Pan and Beau hadn't found somewhere to find shelter. To enworse things, there was a snow storm going about. They were freezing cold, the wind and snow lashed against their faces as if trying to kill them; they were cold, hungry and tired, they felt they were going to collapse at any moment. Beau was the first; he collapsed on the snow.

"BEAU!" Pan rushed next to his friend and began nuzzling against him in an attempt to wake him up, but Beau did not move. Pan carried Beau on his back and kept walking farther. However, after a while, he too collapsed. He felt his very bones chilling; he trembled and saw black holes in his vision. The last thing Pan saw was a purple paw and white fur…


	18. The Capture

Howling Dragon

Chapter 18- The Capture

***Omake- The Council***

Ryu, Saiko, Calcifer and Naruto were resting on a grassy meadow, looking at the sky.

"You know the council has been hysteric these times?" Saiko commented

"Don't remind me! The last time they were like that, they raised the price of caribou!"

"Guys, I don't understand! I thought the Great Alpha was the supreme leader!" Naruto scratched his head in confusion

"The Great Alpha IS the supreme leader; but the Council takes the decisions concerning the Tribes while the Great Alpha takes the decisions about all of Siryo," Ryu explained

"Indeed, to meet him is a GREAT and very RARE honor! Only a few have met him in person, US included!" Calcifer smirked with pride, "but be careful if you deal with the Council, because they don't tolerate jokes,"

"Wow…" Naruto was amazed

"But you have to be careful with your words, because if you accidently say something you don't mean to say you might get into BIG trouble!" Saiko added nervously

"What do you mean?"

"The moron called the Earth Alpha _lizard face_ by accident once," Ryu snickered

"It was an ACCIDENT!" Saiko defended himself

"Also, the Council takes care of executions," Ryu added

"E-executions?" Naruto felt a chill down his spine

"Man, I hope the Earth Alpha forgot that comment…" Saiko whispered

"Your language has been unpardonable!" Calcifer teased him, "Saiko, the punishment for insulting the Council is… decapitation!"

"But you have been even more rude than i!"

"Then it will be both our heads, then…"

Saiko rolled his eyes upwards and fainted.

"Puppy…" Calcifer muttered

***end omake***

Pan opened his eyes slowly, his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him. He peered his ears to the front, attentive to any sounds from nearby, the only thing he heard was a fire burning nearby. Pan began to remember what had happened: he and Beau had separated from Ryu and the others, they had gone in search for them, but a blizzard striked and they collapsed… Pan stood up weakly and looked around; apparently, he was in a cave, because he couldn't see anything, only a dim light nearby… fire… yeah, a fire… suddenly, Pan remembered Beau and began to look around.

"Beau?" he called, but no reply came, "Beau?"

"You're awake," a voice, as smooth almost as oil rolling down steel, sounded nearby

Pan turned to the source of the voice and his blue eyes encountered golden eyes. The owner of the voice was a Wolf Dragon… he had pure white fur in all his body, but he seemingly had much more fur than Ryu, Calcifer or the others. He had silver markings on the back of his neck, legs and the tip of his long, sleek tail. his paws were furless, instead being of a violet color; his ears were like Calcifer's, he had a large light blue mohawk on his head with sideburns that reached to his jaw, the tip was silver. Violet markings were on the corner of his golden eyes.

"Who are you…? Here is Beau?" Pan asked in confusion, but the Wolf Dragon could sense fear in his eyes

"Your friend is doing alright, but he hasn't awakened yet," the strangers turned his head towards a furry form curled up a few steps from him.

"Beau!" Pan ran towards his friend, but he was still too weak and tripped. The white Wolf Dragon stood and helped the pup up.

"Be careful, you're still too weak," he muttered

"You still haven't told me your name…" Pan replied

"You're right… my name is Yoshiko."

Pan's eyes went open wide; he was the Yoshiko they were looking for?

"You're… Yoshiko?"

"Yes, why do you want to know so badly?"

"My sensei is looking for you…"

"Your sensei? And who is your sensei?"

"His name is Ryu…"

Yoshiko's eyes went open wide in surprise

"Ryu? You mean…?"

"Yes,"

"And your friend is…?"

"His name is Beau, and he is Calcifer's Gakusei,"

"Calcifer too…"

Yoshiko chuckled slightly, but soon the humor was gone from his face.

"How's Beau?" Pan asked

"He hasn't awakened yet; you two almost died of hypothermia," Yoshiko explained

"You saved us…"

"It was the least I could do… after all, I couldn't let your names disappear from Siryo's List,"

"Didn't you see Ryu-sensei or the others…?"

"I'm afraid I didn't see them… but I would like to know how you arrived here…"

Pan told Yoshiko everything; how they sneaked to the Shizunpotaru, how they looked for Rayver, the tunnel, and everything else.

"So, you also came with Naruto Uzumaki and his friends…" Yoshiko concluded

"And the Chief Toad and his children," Pan added

"The Chief Toad…?"

"Yeah…"

"... I think I have heard of him… his name is Gamabunta, right…?"

"Yeah,"

"I heard of him, but I didn't know he had children,"

"I was surprised, too,"

"And who's his wife?"

Pan looked at the ground; he didn't want to answer, but he couldn't leave Yoshiko with the doubt. Ryu had talked him about Yoshiko; he was very stubborn, and if he had a doubt, he could go very far to find an answer.

"… She's dead," he finally whispered

"What? What do you mean?" Yoshiko pricked his ears slightly,

"She died years ago… that's what Gamakichi says,"

"Uh..." suddenly, the two heard a groan.

Yoshiko and Pan turned towards Beau; he was moving his ears, sniffing and opening his eyes slightly.

"Beau!" Pa quickly rushed next to his friend, "Beau, are you okay?"

"Uh… where are we?" Beau groaned weakly

"You're safe now, so don't worry," Yoshiko told him

"Hey, Yoshiko, when will you take us with Ryu-sensei?" Pan inquired

"It's dangerous with that blizzard, we must wait until morning or at least until the blizzard stops,"

"But they must be worried!"

"I know, but going out in the middle of a blizzard would be a suicide; for now, you rest."

Yoshiko rested and let out a long yawn. Beau stood up weakly and went to rest next to Yoshiko. Pan sighed and followed; he rested just behind Beau and next to Yoshiko; the Ice Wolf Dragon's fur was so warm. When Pan and Beau had fallen asleep, Yoshiko wrapped his tail around them and fell asleep himself.

XOXOXOXOXO

Ryu, Calcifer and Rayver were having a VERY bad time.

The freezing wind was blowing against them, as if trying to blow them away. Their eyes were almost closed because of the wind, they could not see anything, and the darkness of the night just made it worse. Their fur was already freezing; there was snow in their faces.

"Hey, Ryu! We have to go back!" Calcifer said trembling

"We can't go back without Pan or Beau!" Ryu growled

"Just look at this storm! We won't find them with this blasted wind!"

"And we are going to freeze to death!" Rayver added

"Thank you very much, Rayver!"

"That's why we have to find them!" Ryu replied, "They won't survive the night!"

"Neither will us!"

"I suggest we go back to the cave and get help from Naruto and Sakura!" Rayver suggested as he shaked snow from his face

"That's a great idea!" Calcifer commented annoyed, "that's the first good idea you've had in years!"

Ryu didn't listen; he was frenetically looking around for his Gakusei. He had gotten to love Pan like a son, and he couldn't leave him to freeze to death. Calcifer, though not willing to admit out loud, felt the same way about Beau. Although he usually showed no emotional attachment to others, he actually WAS quite attached to Beau; in fact, he liked to be called Calcy-sensei by him… but only Beau.

"Well, let's go to the cave for Naruto and Sakura." Rayver brought them back to reality as he walked back to the cave.

Meanwhile, nearby, a light opened from above. Kaminaru and Mo came out of it and landed on the snow, they suddenly felt the bitter cold wind against their fur.

"Where is this?" Kaminaru growled

"This must be the Land of the Snow!" Mo replied yelling, "There's no other place with such snow!"

"How are we going to find them now? The wind is going to make it difficult for us to track them down!"

Suddenly, Mo peered his ears up and heard whispers, words carried by the wind.

"Duck!" he ordered

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

The Wolf Dragons ducked and waited, the voices were getting closer

"Where's the way we came from the cave?" Calcifer's voice reached their ears

"I don't know; I have a bad memory," Rayver's voice came next

"Rayver!" they heard a growl from Ryu, "anyway, I think we came from the north,"

"And how do you know, Mr. Know-it-all?" Calcifer asked irritated

"Coal Breath, I'm so worried about Pantalaimon that I won't answer to your mocking!"

Kaminaru's ears peered up when he heard his son's name; worried? What did Ryu mean by that? Had something happened to Pantalaimon?

"Did you hear? Their hideout is north, we should follow them," Mo called his attention

"But what he said about Pantalaimon is making me worry. What if something happened to my son?" Kaminaru replied, worry notable in his voice

Mo sighed; he knew Pantalaimon was Kaminaru's only family left. His mate had been killed by one of the snakes, it was just normal he didn't want anything happen to his son. But right now, Mo's main concern was to get their mission done once and for all.

"I say we should follow them; maybe they will lead us to Pantalaimon and we can take him and them back to Siryo," Mo suggested, trying to calm his teammate down.

Kaminaru thought for a moment and after a while, he nodded.

"Let's get back to the cave already!" Calcifer finally snarled as he started to walk back to the cave; soon, he was followed by Ryu and Rayver. Kaminaru and Mo silently crept after them.

XOXOXOXOXO

Back at the cave, everyone was not as bad. Sakura and Tsunade were trying to keep the fire alight, Naruto and Jiraiya had fallen asleep, Saiko was standing guard. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu were on their father's arms, trying to get warm. Suddenly Jiraiya felt his stomach growling, the hunger was unbearable, and the others had not returned.

"What the heck is taking them so long?" finally Jiraiya couldn't contain his frustration anymore

"Hey, hunting in a blizzard is not as easy as it seems!" Saiko replied weakly from hunger; his tiredness was already getting the better of him.

"Maybe they're having a hard time finding the cave," Sakura suggested

"That's a possibility, the wind and the ice might make it difficult for them to use their smelling sense,"

"Not on my watch!" they suddenly heard Ryu's voice from the entrance of the cave, and saw him enter the cave along with Rayver and Calcifer. But they worried when they noticed Pan and Beau were missing.

"Where are Pan and Beau?" Naruto asked

"We don't know! For one moment they were following us, and the next, they were gone!" Calcifer snarled irritated as he shaked the snow off

"They're missing…" Rayver went straight to the point as he rested next to the fire

"Well, did you get something to eat?" Jiraiya inquired pointing at his stomach

"No, because we spend our time looking for Pan and Beau,"

"Oh, no! what are we going to eat!"

"Calm down, I'll bring something," Saiko walked out of the cave; soon after, he was back with a hare. He failed to see Kaminaru and Mo creeping towards the entrance of the cave silently, both were waiting for the right moment to enter and grab Gamakichi.

"A hare? That's all?" Jiraiya moaned in frustration

"Hey, I can't hunt big prey on my own!"

"Hey, guys, the point is that we came back so Naruto and Sakura could help us find Pan and Beau!" Ryu lost his patience

"But Ryu, we won't be of much help if we're hungry," Naruto reminded the Wind Wolf Dragon

"And with just a hare to eat, less…" Jiraiya muttered

"Well, then we will go hunt more hares and if you feel better, we'll go search for them," Rayver suggested as he gave a loud, long yawn

"Wow, finally you say something useful!" Calcifer added a sarcastic comment

Gamakichi sighed in annoyance as he hopped from his father's arms to the cold stone floor; they sounded like himself and his father each time they argued. But he did a great mistake; he sat down close to the entrance of the cave, not knowing he was being expected.

Outside, Kaminaru looked at Mo, the latter seemed to understand what his partner wanted to say; Mo crept towards the entrance of the cave in silence. Finally, he entered in action:

"**Hyoton: Misukoramu** (N/A- Ice Release: Blinding Mist)!"

Suddenly, a thick mist was released from Mo's mouth and it filled the entire cave, much to everyone's alarm.

"What the heck-?" Calcifer was the first to react

"What's happening?" Tsunade looked around swiftly trying to figure out what was happening

"An ambush!" Sakura yelped in alarm

"I don't see anything!" Rayver added in shock

"Who turned off the lights?" Saiko was having the same trouble

"Gamakichi!" Gamabunta's voice was heard over all of theirs; he was afraid something might happen. Suddenly, a thought striked him: what if…?

"no… it can't be…" he feared the worst; if this was Kaminaru and Mo's doing, that meant…

"GET OFF ME!"

Bunta felt his blood go cold like poison when he recognized his son's voice. Soon everyone's attention focused on Gamakichi and desperately started to look around for him, but the mist was too thick.

"Saikuron!" Ryu created a cyclone that dissipated all the mist… when the mist disappeared completely, Kaminaru and Mo were in the entrance of the cave; Mo was holding Gamakichi in his front paw. The Toadling was desperately trying to escape Mo's grip, but to no avail.

"Mo, no! Don't hurt him!" Saiko pleaded

"Kaminaru, come on!" Rayver snarled, "That's too low for you!"

"We will let him go, if you come back to Siryo with us,"

"Would you two give up already?" Calcifer growled in irritation, baring his fangs

"Let me go!" Gamakichi struggled violently to get free again, but Mo hardened his grip.

"Mo, Kaminaru!" Ryu finally snapped, "Alright, we will go back to Siryo, but leave him alone!"

Everyone looked shocked at Ryu in shock; was he serious? He seriously would give up to save Gamakichi?

"But Ryu…" Naruto whispered

"Are you mad?" Calcifer snapped in shock

"No… let Gamakichi go and we will return with you…" Ryu lowered his head in defeat

The Great Alpha would have to wait.

XOXOXOXO

Meanwhile, Pan and Beau were already trying to find the cave along with Yoshiko. After wandering for a while, Beau recognized the area.

"Hey, Pan, I think we're getting closer," he whispered

"Are you sure?" Pan asked

"This area looks familiar to me… I think we passed around here when we were hunting with Calcy-sensei and he others,"

Yoshiko snickered silently at Calcifer's nickname.

"But all of this looks completely alike! The same trees, the same snow-!"

"…the same paw prints," Yoshiko quickly added

"The same paw- WHAT?" Pan looked stunned at the Ice Wolf Dragon

"If you see the snow carefully, you will notice there are paw prints,"

Beau and Pan searched the snow and saw that, indeed, there were paw prints in the snow. The paw prints were like a wolf's, but bigger, obviously they had to be Wolf Dragon Paw prints.

"So? Let's follow them!" Pan was about to rush in the direction of the paw prints, but Yoshiko stopped him, "hey, what's wrong?"

"Wait… I'm hearing something… nearby…"

Yoshiko could hear faint whispers, by the sound and tone of those whispers there was a commotion nearby. In the interior of a cave, maybe, but those voices sounded familiar… well, some of them, there were other voices he had never heard before. After honing his senses a bit, Yoshiko finally recognized the voices.

"Ryu's nearby!" he exclaimed in surprise, "and the others, too!"

"I knew it!" Beau wagged his tail in excitement

"It comes from the direction of the paw prints, so we should go in that direction,#

The trio quickly skipped to the source of the voices.

XOXOXOXOXO

"_This was definitively not going according to the plan_"

That was Ryu's thought as he left his sword in the ground and walked slowly to face Kaminaru and Mo. Rayver sighed and did the same without saying a word, Saiko followed soon after; Calcifer, although reluctant at first, at last growled in defeat and left his sword with the others' and sat in the same position. Mo grinned slightly and lifted his paw off Gamakichi, who quickly jumped away. Gamabunta quickly jumped next to his son and hugged him tightly

"Gamakichi, are you alright?" was the first thing that came out of his voice, worry and relief notable in his voice.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" Gamakichi replied coldly, but his father could sense some fear in his voice.

Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade and Jiraiya could only watch helplessly; they felt guilty about not being able to help Ryu and the others, but they admired Ryu's action… he had sacrificed their mission to save Gamakichi, that was admirable. Kaminaru looked at Mo and nodded; Mo gave a long howl. Naruto looked into Ryu's eyes, and he believed he heard something in his head:

"_**Naruto… use the swords**_…"

After Naruto heard those words, Ryu, Saiko and the Wolf Dragons disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sakura was the first to speak

"We have to do something, we must save them!"

"But how? We don't know how to get to Siryo!" Jiraiya replied, looking at the ground

"Hello, is anyone there?" they heard a voice coming from the outside

"That voice…" Gamakichi looked towards the entrance of the cave and three figures entered…

"Pan! Beau!" the group rushed to the pups, but stopped abruptly when they saw the Ice Wolf Dragon that accompanied them.

"I thought Mo had left!" Jiraiya commented in confusion

"No, no, no, he's Yoshiko," Beau explained

The group looked wide-eyed at Yoshiko; how had Pan and Beau found him? just what was going on?

"he's… Yoshiko?" Sakura shivered slightly

"I found Pan and Beau lost in the blizzard, I took them to a cave near here," Yoshiko explained, "when the blizzard stopped I brought them here,"

"Hey, where's Ryu-sensei?" Pan looked around searching for Ryu, but didn't find him

"And Calcy-sensei?" Beau added

"What about Saiko and Rayver?" Yoshiko joined them

Naruto looked at the ground sadly; how would they take it?

"Guys…" Jiraiya whispered in sadness, not wanting to tell them

"Mo and Kaminaru caught up to us and…" Tsunade stopped abruptly when she was about to answer

"What? Mo and my dad?" Pan peered his ears to the front in alarm

"You're saying Calcy-sensei and the others were…?" Beau's eyes were watering up

"They took Gamakichi hostage, so they surrendered," Naruto explained

Gamakichi looked guiltily at the ground when Pan and Beau turned to look at him; would they blame him for it?

"Don't worry, it was not your fault," Yoshiko assured him with a slight smile

"We must save them!" Pan snapped determined

"But how are we supposed to get so Siryo?" Tsunade reminded them

Suddenly, Naruto remembered what he had heard before Ryu and the others were taken.

"_**Use the swords…"**_

"The swords!" Naruto snapped

"What?" the others asked him in confusion

Naruto rushed to where Ryu and the others had dropped their swords; he picked up Ryu's sword and examined it closely. After a while, he discovered some strange symbols on the blade.

"Hey, look at this!" he rushed next to Jiraiya and showed him the symbols; Jiraiya carefully too the sword from Naruto and examined them

"Interesting… it appears to be some kind of Jutsu formula…" he whispered

"It's a seal," Yoshiko explained as he walked towards the other swords, "in case the Shizunpotaru is failing, we use the seals to return to Siryo,"

"So it's like a teleportation jutsu seal…" Gamabunta concluded

"Exactly!"

"And how do we use it?" Sakura inquired while picking up Saiko's sword

"Easy; concentrate your Chakra on the seal and it will work automatically," Beau replied wagging his tail

"But how will you go back?"

"Like all summons; disappearing in a puff of smoke!"

Jiraiya picked up Rayver's sword while Tsunade picked Rayver's. Jiraiya decided to share the sword with Gamabunta, who held both Gamakichi and Gamatatsu in his right arm while he grabbed the sword with his left hand. They concentrated their Chakra on the sword; suddenly, the symbols started to glow. Initially of a dim, blue color, but soon they became a bright blue tone, a howling sound filled their ears and suddenly a swirling blue light surrounded them. It swirled around them with the speed of light, suddenly they disappeared; Pan, Beau and Mo followed, disappearing in a puff of smoke.


	19. Secret Training

Howling Dragon

Chapter 19- Secret Training

The Council watched in silence as Ryu, Calcifer, Saiko and Rayver were brought into the room, completely weaponless. Kaminaru and Mo followed silently.

"I see you finally brought them back," the Fire Alpha muttered

"Yeah," Mo replied coldly

"And where's the last one?" the Wind alpha inquired upon realized he Furious Five were incomplete,

"He wasn't with them," Kaminaru replied, "apparently they didn't find him in time,"

"Very well," the Shadow Alpha set his eyes on their four elite warriors, "as for you, you disobeyed our orders and must be punished by that-"

"Your orders?" Ryu interrupted him abruptly with disbelief in his voice, "YOUR orders? Don't you mean the SNAKE MAN's orders?"

"You knew from the beginning that there was no other choice!" the Water Alpha retorted

"There WAS another choice! Rescue the Great Alpha instead of following that bastard's commands! In fact, how do you know he hasn't already killed the Great Alpha and we haven't found out?" Calcifer growled

"Calcifer, cut it out!" the Fire Alpha growled sternly

Calcifer peered up his ears and turned towards the Fire Alpha, surprised with the tone of his voice. However, he just growled softly.

"As you wish… father…" he hissed

"Back to the discussion, you four must submit to the Snake Man's orders or we will have no other choice," the Earth Alpha gave word to Ryu and the others

"What? No way! You're telling us to simply surrender and betray ourselves!" Saiko retorted, although he was considering the idea

"Ryu," the Wind Alpha's soft voice called the Wind Wolf Dragon's attention, "… son… please… do not make me execute you…"

Ryu gasped in surprise at his father's petition; he had never heard that tone of voice in him, he had always believed his father didn't care about him, but… seeing him right now, apparently he DID care about him… but he could not betray the Great Alpha! No… he would find a way to get out of this… finally, Ryu set his jaws.

"I'll never obey the Snake Man…" he whispered in an almost inaudible voice,

"Neither will I!" Calcifer added

"I'm not betraying the Great Alpha!" Saiko growled

Their eyes centered on Rayver, expecting to hear his answer

"… I would usually follow the Council, but in this circumstances, I'm not following the Snake Man who barks orders through the Council," he growled in a soft tone

Ryu snickered; although Rayver was very pessimistic, he sometimes had the habit of making jokes of others in a very subtle manner.

The Wind Alpha sighed sadly as he closed his eyes, he surely was going to regret what he was going to do.

"… Very well… I'm afraid you leave me no choice… you will be executed in three days," he whispered, his eyes still.

Saiko gulped; I academy, he had read what were the executions like, and they were NOT pretty.

"Take them away," the Earth Alpha ordered in sadness

Kaminaru and Mo led the Furious Five out of the Council's Chambers and through more dark corridors before reaching the dungeons. There, Kaminaru opened a cell and Mo led Ryu and the others inside. After they were inside the cell, Kaminaru locked the door and he and Kaminaru walked away

"Sorry…" was all Kaminaru whispered before he and Mo disappeared into the darkness of the Corridor.

XOXOXOXOXO

A portal opened in the middle of a burned field; Naruto and the group came out of it, falling on their backs. Yoshiko, Pan and Beau, however, fell on their feet. Sakura stood and rubbed her back, which was aching terribly. But when she looked around, she immediately forgot about her aching back; she felt shock and sadness to what was now before her eyes. There was nothing but ash, burned logs and smoke; the sky seemed to share her emotions, as it was filled of dull grey clouds, there seemed to be no life. All the nearby trees were completely burned, and where there used to be a pond there was nothing but dirt. Soon the others were staring at the depressing landscape, as well.

"This is.. Siryo?" Naruto's voice sounded cavernous in that dead place

"Yes… I know its inhabitable now, but… it's still our homeland…" Yoshiko replied with sadness

"And what are you going to do? Move out?" Jiraiya asked

"We don't know yet. Our main concern right now is the Great Alpha."

"Well, where should we head towards now?" Sakura added

"I'm sure Ryu and the others were taken to the Council's Palace. This seems to be the Forest Tribe territory, so we must go South,"

"But where is South? The sun's not visible here, and we don't have a compass," Tsunade pointed out

"It's over there," Pan pointed towards a direction,"

"How do you know-?" Gamakichi was surprised that Pan known where the South was. Did all Wolf Dragons know?

"We don't need the sun to find out where the South is, we can distinguish,"

"That's amazing! How can you guys do that?"

"Nobody knows, not even ourselves. We simply know," Beau explained

"Well, are we going to stand here or are we going to save Ryu?" Naruto grinned

The group departed for the palace of the Council, towards the direction Yoshiko had pointed. They passed by the same; burned fields, dead trees, gray sky… nothing changed, only the landscapes and sometimes they passed by ruined Dens. After what seemed days of running, they stopped to rest. Their feet were filled of ash and dirt, and there were rocks around that place. Pan and Beau looked at Gamakichi and whispered something to him:

"Meet us behind those rocks," they whispered

"This used to be the shore of a lake," Yoshiko explained, "when we were pups, we used to come here to swim,"

"Hey, Yoshiko; while we rest, could you tell us what was Siryo like?" Sakura sat down, expecting to hear him.

"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind,"

Gamakichi, however, took advantage that his father was listening to Yoshiko to silently hop to where Pan and Beau were. The three walked behind the rock stop speak.

"What did you want to tell me?" Gamakichi inquired

"Ryu-Sensei and you once had spoken about you wanting to learn some Jutsu," Pan replied

"Yeah…"

"Well, first you need to know your Chakra Nature; that's why we called you, you we help you find out,"

Gamakichi's eyes opened wide

"What? But don't we need a scroll from a tree grown with Chakra?"

"we don't need it; Wolf Dragons can sense the nature of Chakra by mixing their own natured chakra with the chakra of another being," Beau explained, "if the chakra nature is the compatible, it means you have the same chakra nature as the Wolf Dragon,"

"Can you guys do that?"

"Well, we're still Apprentices, but we know how to do it," Pan replied

"And how do you do it?"

"First, you to lift your hand and concentrate Chakra on it, we'll do the rest."

Gamakichi nodded and lifted his hand; then he concentrated some of his Chakra on it. Pan lifted his paw and did the same; his Chakra had a yellowish tone, showing his affinity to Thunder-natured Chakra. He pressed his paw against Gamakichi's hand, and the Chakras collided for a few seconds. However, suddenly Pan's chakra began to emit a crackling energy and their chakra's exploded; although they had no serious damage done to their hands.

"What was that?" Gamakichi asked in shock

"Our Chakras were not compatible, so they rejected each other," Pan explained, "That means Thunder is not your nature, now is Beau's turn."

"Well, let's do it," Beau grinned

Gamakichi and Beau repeated the same steps from before: hold out hand, concentrate Chakra on it, and press them against each other. However, Beau's Chakra had a reddish tone, and this time their Chakras became one: Gamakichi's Chakra became of a reddish tone and along with Beau's Chakra and looked like a burning flame before disappearing.

"Your Chakra nature is Fire," Beau grinned

"Fire? Like you?" Gamakichi asked excitedly

"Yeah!" Pan wagged his tail excitedly

Gamakichi's smile soon faded; his father's Chakra Nature was water… then why he had FIRE natured Chakra instead or WATER natured Chakra. His father wouldn't be able to teach him any Jutsu, then…

"What's wrong?" Beau asked in concern

"My father's Chakra Nature is Water…" Gamakichi replied in sadness, "He won't be able to teach me any Jutsu…"

"Don't worry, I can teach you some," Beau smiled, "in secret, of course."

"But I don't understand; Toads usually have Water-natured Chakra. I don't understand why my Nature is Fire…"

"Maybe your mother had Fire-natured Chakra as well…" Pan suggested

"Now that you mention it, I never asked Pops what was her Chakra Nature,"

"Then ask him…"

"Oh! We should go back before they notice we're gone," Beau commented

The three silently walked back to where the others were resting. Luckily, Yoshiko was still speaking.

"The Desert Region is 50km East from here; that's where the Earth Tribe comes from," he was explaining

"The Tribes live in different regions? I thought Syrio was only fields," Jiraiya commented

"No, there are eight regions:

**The Water Tribe lives in the Lake Region, which is full of crystal blue creeks, lakes and rivers.**

**The Fire Tribe lives in the Volcanic Region, which is full of fertile land and active volcanoes. **

**The Earth Tribe lives in the Desert Region, which I just mentioned, with endless sand dunes and an oasis.**

**The Wind Tribe lives in the Mountain Region, which is full of mountains, cliffs and the landscapes of all the other regions.**

**The Shadow Tribe lives in the Cavern Region, which had endless subterranean caverns and tunnels, they don't see the sun very often.**

**The Thunder Tribe lives in the Grassland Region, which has green, extense grasslands and is the main source of our food; caribous.**

**The Forest Tribe lives in the Forest Region, filled with forests full of life and endless trees.**

**Finally, the Ice Tribe, my Tribe, lives in Snowy Region; that is the only place in Syrio that actually has snow: there are freezing temperatures, ice and constant snowing that only we can stand.**

And those are the Eight Regions," Yoshiko finished

Gamatatsu had fallen asleep in his father's arms; Jiraiya and Naruto were trying their best not to fall asleep. Yoshiko, however, noticed this and smirked slightly.

"It's okay, you can fall asleep. My story was too long, anyway. The others do exactly the same thing," he explained

"I suppose we should sleep a bit, don't you think?" Naruto yawned

"I think he's right; we've been running for a while now, and if I take another step I'm going to collapse," Pan agreed with Naruto

"Alright, we can sleep for a while," Yoshiko replied

"I wonder how Ryu and the others are doing," Sakura commented as she rested

"Don't worry; they're as hard as steel, they will be fine." Beau yawned as he fell asleep.

However, before going to sleep, Gamakichi hopped next to his father; he had a question.

"Hey, pops, can I ask you something?"

Gamabunta turned to see his son

"What is it?" he inquired as he placed Gamatatsu on the ground

"… What was mom's Chakra Nature?"

"… Fire… I think… she never used Jutsu at all, she preferred to use Taijutsu,"

Gamakichi's eyes went open wide; so he had inherited his mother's Chakra Nature.

"Why do you ask?" Bunta then added

"Err… just curiosity…" Gamakichi replied nervously

"Okay…"

Both then rested next to each other before falling asleep.

XOXOXOXOXO

Ryu peered up his ears to the sound of a door opening; the others didn't seem to notice, however; they were minding their own things. Saiko was wandering around worried, Calcifer was counting the minutes they spent in their cell on the wall with his claw, and Rayver was simply… doing nothing. He was just resting in the straw, as if lost in his thoughts.

"hurry, you only have twenty minutes," they heard the guard's rumbling voice and steps on the corridor, then a female Forest Wolf Dragon stood in front of the cell: she apparently looked like Kusa, but the fur of her head was messier and her eyes were of a light yellow color.

"Leafos?" Ryu centered his eyes on the visitor

"Ryu!" the Forest Wolf Dragon name Leafos cried in anguish, "oh, Ryu! What has happened to you? Why are you in here?"

Ryu walked to the bars of the cell to look more closely at Leafos's eyes; the others seemingly had finally taken notice of her presence.

"Is that Leafos?" Saiko was the first to speak

"Well, unless you know other Forest Wolf Dragon with messy hair, light yellow eyes and with a crush on Ryu, then obviously SHE must be Leafos," Calcifer grumbled under his breath as he clawed another stick on the wall

"What happened to you? After the Snake Man's invasion, we didn't see you. We thought you were dead," Rayver got closer to Ryu and Leafos

"I helped the other females and the pups get to safety, then I tried to go and help my father, but…" Leafos's eyes were watering up, "I couldn't get there in time…"

"And what happened to Kiary?" Calcifer's voice joined their conversation

"She's alright; she's staying with the survivors of the Water Tribe,"

"And why do you want to know what happened to her?" Saiko grinned

"Err… you stay out of this!" Calcifer growled at him as he went back to his carving in the wall

"You will be executed in three days? Is that true?" Leafos peered down her ears, fearing to hear the answer

"… Yes…" Ryu replied as he looked at the ground, "we have failed…"

"Don't say that! You are the only ones who still stood firm for what you believed was right! You had the courage to defy the Council's orders! Your quest is still not concluded!"

"But we're locked in here with no way to escape…"

"You will find a way. You're the Furious Five,"

"You mean the Furious Four; Yoshiko's not here. We couldn't find him,"

"Speaking of which, how will Naruto and the others be doing?" Rayver commented

"I told Naruto to use our swords so they could transport to Siryo, so maybe they must be here," Ryu replied

"Naruto? Who's Naruto?" Leafos inquired

"A friend of ours," Calcifer replied, "but I doubt he even listened to Ryu's message,"

"Speaking of which; Ryu, when did you tell him? we were there the whole time," Saiko added

"Let's say that… he read my mind…" Ryu grinned

"Your time's over," the guard announced to Leafos as he softly shoved her away

"Good luck…" was the last thing she whispered before being led away

"Well, if the boy's going to do something, he'd better do it fast," Calcifer muttered as the sound of the door closing filled their ears.

XOXOXOXOXO

It was night already, Naruto and the others had fallen deeply asleep. Yoshiko was curled up over the ground, Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade and Jiraiya were in their sleeping bags, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu were sleeping next to their father. However, Gamakichi woke up and slowly sat down; then he silently hopped to where Pan and Beau were waiting for him.

"Are you ready?" Pan asked

"Yeah," Gamakichi grinned determined

"Great, but we should go somewhere where we don't wake them up, " Beau added while looking at the others

"How about behind that hill?"

"it looks good; let's go,"

The three silently walked towards a nearby hill, far enough not to wake up the others, but not too far from them neither.

"Hey, Gamakichi, can I ask you something?" Pan suddenly spoke up, wanting to break the silence

"What is it?" Gamakichi replied

"… Why do you want to learn Jutsu so badly,"

Gamakichi stopped when Pan made him that question; he hadn't thought about that reason, he simply wanted to prove his father he could handle it. But what Pan said made sense… that was no acceptable reason

"… I… I want to be stronger, I want pops to stop treating me like a kid, that's why," he replied

"Alright, then listen," Beau called his attention, "I'm going to teach you a simple Jutsu: Hinotama. You have to mold your Chakra into balls inside your stomach and then spit them out as fireballs,"

"That sounds hard…"

"Compared to other Fire Jutsu, it's very easy to perform. Watch this…"

Beau looked over at a dead plan and stood firm on the ground; suddenly, smoke began to come out of his nostrils ns he launched a fireball from his mouth to the plant, which burned to ashes.

"That was amazing!" Gamakichi gaped in amazement

"Now you try it," Beau replied looking at him

Gamakichi began concentrating Chakra on his stomach, he felt as if there was really fire in his stomach. He could feel the smoke blowing out of his nostrils, but it made it difficult for him to breathe. when he felt a fireball going up his throat, it felt as if he was stinged by scorpions. Finally, he spat the fireball… but it was very small, barely the size of a postal. Pan and Beau stared in frustration at the fireball.

"Oh, crap…" Gamakichi coughed smoke

"Don't worry, it's all about practice," Beau tried to cheer him up

"The first time I used a Jutsu, I ended up in the top of a tree," Pan chuckled

"Well then…" Gamakichi grinned, "let's try again,"


	20. Breaking Out

Howling Dragon

Chapter 20- Breaking Out

**Alright, everyone, I know Kyuubi doesn't appear much in this story… but I'll try to mention him as much as I can. Also, Kyuubi's chakra and the Ookami Fomu's influence will have an effect on Naruto… you will have to read to find out what affect!**

***Omake- The Syrio Academy***

Saiko and Rayver were telling Pantalaimon about their days in the academy

"Hey, guys, where are Ryu Sensei and Calcifer?" inquired looking around

"They are in the Academy; they volunteered to give a demonstrative class to the pups," Saiko explained

"Demonstrative class?"

"See, those classes are for pups that are about to graduate. The demonstrative class is to show the pups the ranks they can obtain depending on their abilities," Rayver explained, "the classes in the academy are Tribal Jutsu, Supervivence and Taijutsu,"

"Oh, man, I'm glad we don't go to the academy anymore," Saiko sighed, "our Tribal Jutsu sensei was very strict and no one liked him. If we failed something, he yelled at us!"

"Speaking of which, I think I see him coming over there," Rayver commented as he pointed to a random direction.

Indeed, a Forest Wolf Dragon with dark green leaf-like hair and brown fur got closer

"Korari sensei, what are you doing here?" Pan tilted his head in confusion

"Well, look who it is," he growled at Saiko, "Mr. Troublemaker Saiko,"

"Troublemaker? I was not a troublemaker, it was Calcifer!" Saiko

"You better get out of my sight or you will be punished for a week,"

"Ha! I'm not in Academy anymore, so you can't punish me!"

"Pantalaimon, punished one week,"

"WHAT?" poor Pan yelled in shock, "Saiko, get out of here,"

"He can't force me!" Saiko growled

"Two weeks, Pantalaimon," Korari smirked evilly

"SAIKO!"

"What?"

"If you don't get out of here in ten seconds, Pantalaimon will be expelled," Korari gave his final warning

"GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!" Pantalaimon finally started to push Saiko away

"Okay, okay!" Saiko replied in shock

***End Omake***

In the Furious 'Four's dark cell, the warriors were trying to spend some time before their execution. Now Rayver was counting the minutes they spent in the cell clawing lines in the wall, Calcifer had gotten bored of doing it and instead fell asleep, and Saiko was still walking around the cell in worry. Ryu, however, was just sitting in a corner, his eyes closed. There had to be some way out of there! Leafos talk had given him a new feeling; there had to be some way out, no cell was perfect, like Yoshiko had once said.

**Every cell has a way out: a hole, a weak bar, air ducts… you just have to look in the right place…**

Ryu opened his eyes; look in the right place… right place…

"That's it!" Ryu exclaimed at last, startling his companions.

"What? What the heck?" Calcifer growled in irritation as he opened one eye

"Hey, Ryu! Why did you suddenly change your attitude?" Saiko inquired

"Boys, look under the bars of the cell! There must be some ground we can dig on!" Ryu explained as he started to check the stones under the bars, looking for soil.

"Oh, I get it!" Saiko grinned as he walked towards the bars and started to look too.

"It's useless… but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try…" Rayver muttered as he left his now-completely-scratched wall and to where the other two Wolf Dragons were.

Calcifer, however, was not on the mood of digging right now and just tried to go back to sleep.

"Hey, Coal Breath, a bit of help, would you?" Ryu growled at him

"Forget about it! It's not like you can dig your way out of here!" Calcifer one eye annoyed

"You prefer being beheaded tomorrow?" Saiko replied as he searched under the bars, and finally found it. There was a patch of ground on the left side of the bars, "here!"

"Great, now start to dig!" Ryu grinned

Saiko did as told and started to dig, constantly looking around to see if any guards came.

"Well, did you find soil?" Calcifer inquired

"Yeah, and not thanks to you!" Ryu replied

"Shut up, Wind Bag…"

Saiko ignored them and kept digging; after a while, he had made a hole big enough for them to crawl their way out of their cell.

"It's done! Let's go!"

Ryu was the first to crawl out of the cell; when he was sure there were no guards coming, he motioned the others to come out. Then Saiko crawled out and next Rayver. Calcifer, however, was reluctant to go with them.

"Hey, Calcifer, come on! Let's go!" Rayver turned to look at the Fire Wolf Dragon

"…are you sure this isn't reckless? I mean, we go, escape from our cell and then what? Did you think about that? No! We might as well stay here and save ourselves the trouble of being brought here again!"

"Man, you're Rayverizing!" Saiko exclaimed

Ryu, Calcifer and especially Rayver set their eyes on the Earth Wolf Dragon

"Rayverizing?" Ryu inquired in curiosity

"What? He's sounding like Rayver!"

Rayver, however, wasn't taking Saiko's comment kindly and growled.

"Hey, don't take it personal, Ray!" Saiko tried to cal his companion

"Come on, Coal Breath. Are you afraid?" Ryu grinned

Calcifer growled at the challenge; Ryu sure knew how to make him angry.

"Fine…" he growled as he crawled out of the cell, "what now?"

"We need to get out of the Council Building without being seeing," Ryu replied looking around

"And how are we supposed to do that, genius?"

"Hey, why doesn't Saiko use one of his Earth Jutsu to dig a tunnel out of here?" Rayver suggested

"Because there's no soil here; only rock. At least we should reach the courtyard, then I can use my Ana-Hori-Ki to get us out of here." Saiko explained

"And how will we find Naruto?" Calcifer reminded them

"We could Howl to locate them…" Ryu was about to suggest

"Hey, but if we manage to escape, surely the Council will send Mo and Kaminaru after us again! If we howl they will locate us easily,"

"…"

"We'll think about that later; right now our main concern is to escape, so let's go," Rayver reminded them while walking towards the door that led to the halls of the building.

"You know, Rayver is not as pessimistic when breaking out," Saiko commented

"That's because breaking out if his specialty," Calcifer replied, "when we were in the academy, he was the one who planned how to escape the Stamina lessons,"

Then the three followed Rayver to the door. The Shadow Wolf Dragon opened the door quietly and looked around to make sure the corridor was clear. When he was sure there was no one around, he motioned the others to follow him with his tail. They walked into the long corridor and quickly yet silently started their way to the Courtyard; but it was not as easy as it sounded. They had to avoid the guards and look for places to hide when the guards caught them off guard. Actually, they had only needed to hide about two times; most guards had been assigned to be the Council's escort; after all, if even the Great Alpha was taken by surprise by the Snake Man, they couldn't take any more risks of losing another member of the Council. After sharply turning around a corner, Saiko sighed.

"this was easier than I thought," he commented

"this is weird… haven't the guards noticed we're gone?" Ryu commented

"who cares? That'll make things easier for us,"

Suddenly, they heard a sound behind them. Rayver felt a chill down his spine and sharply turned his head back; he saw shadows getting larger and larger on the corner that led to another corridor.

"hide!" he growled as he suddenly turned into a shadow and camouflaged himself as the shadow of a nearby statue.

Saiko, Calcifer and Ryu panicked; they had no camouflage Jutsu, like Rayver had. They had to hide by themselves. Calcifer quickly ran towards a large chest located just in front of the statue and opened it; luckily, it was empty. He slid inside the chest and closed it; Ryu jumped from wall to wall to the chandelier just above them. Saiko, however, had no such luck in finding a place to hide. The guards were coming closer, and if he didn't do something, he would ruin their whole escape attempt. The Earth Wolf Dragon felt sweat rolling down his furry face, and his heart skipped various beats…

And the guards turned in the corner…

XOXOXOXOXO

Gamakichi collapsed on the ground, exhausted. His throat was burning like hell, as if he had swallowed a whole familiar-sized spicy sauce bottle. Much to his annoyance, he had no been able to throw ONE miserable fireball. All his attempts had been not satisfactory either; his fireballs either exploded on his face or were too small and put out. Sometimes he didn't breathe anything at all… just a bit of smoke.

Luckily, the rest of the group was asleep. There were still a few hours before sunrise, so he still had a few hours to practice. Gamakichi was still worried about his father; how would he react if he found out he was secretly training? He would not jump of joy, obviously… Gamabunta hated when people hid things from him, especially his own flesh and blood. Gamakichi put his thoughts aside and hopped to where Pan and Beau were sleeping.

"Hey, guys wake up!" he called to them

Pan opened his eyes slightly and looked at the toad.

"What is it?" he yawned

"This is not working! I can't breathe a spark!" Gamakichi coughed some smoke from his throat

"Don't worry. If it makes you feel better, it took me about one year to master the Fireball," Beau yawned

"One year?"

"Hey, hate to interrupt, guys, but it will be morning soon," Pan pointed out while looking over at the distant mountains, "we should better go back to the camp before the others find out we are missing,"

"you're right. If Pop finds out about this, not only will he have me grounded for the rest of my life, but he will also disown me," Gamakichi commented while hopping to the camp.

"man, enjoy the little hours we'll have to sleep," Beau added

In fact, the three were exhausted. Actually, Gamakichi was the only who was exhausted, as he had been the one who had tried to breathe a miserable fireball. Pan and Beau had only supervised he was doing the Jutsu properly. But they had gotten tired too… when they reached the camp, everyone was still asleep. Pan and Beau silently walked over to Yoshiko, rested next to him and fell asleep. The Ice Wolf must have felt their presence, as he wrapped his tail about them. Gamakichi was so exhausted he didn't bother in looking for a place to sleep. He simply hopped next to his father, cuddled against his belly and after a few seconds was fast asleep. Gamabunta felt something against his body and opened his left eye slightly. When he realized it was Gamakichi sleeping against him, however, he smiled slightly and closed his eye again, falling asleep…

However, not everyone was having sweet dreams… Naruto, in particular.

_He was in his Ookami Fomu, standing in the middle of a snowy wasteland, in which the sky was red and had dark clouds all over. His friends were nowhere to be seen, and there were pools of blood around him. Naruto moved his ears to the front when he heard a small sound a few meters away from him… he looked around and noticed there was a furry, purple form laying on the snow… a form he recognized too well._

"_Ryu!" Naruto called after his friend in horror, but he did not reply. _

_The boy ran towards the Wind Wolf Dragon, fearing the worst; in fact, when he got close enough, he realized in horror that the Wind Wolf was laying over a pool of his own blood. He had wounds all over his body and there was a sword running through his waist… but it was no common sword… the Wind Master was dead. _

"_Ryu, noo!" Naruto felt tears threatening to fall, but the smell of more blood prevented him from doing so. He looked around and realized in horror that the rest of the Furious Five had met the same fate as Ryu… they were dead, their bodies laying over pools of their blood, and wounds, scars and weapons running all over their bodies. _

"_What… what happened?" Naruto thought in horror, while trying to find out something that might have to do with the current state of the Furious Five. Suddenly, a shadow fell over him and Naruto turned to see its source… but he did not have a chance to see the one responsible of this, as suddenly he felt a terrible pain all over his body… and then everything went black._

"AHH!" Naruto woke up with a scream, startling everyone awake. When Naruto finally calmed down, he notices something… he was in his Ookami Fomu. But how…? He had not slept in this form… perhaps the nightmare he just had had something to do with it. Sakura and Jiraiya looked over at the blonde Wolf Dragon.

"Naruto, what happened?" Sakura sounded very worried, "why did you scream all of sudden?"

Naruto faced a dilemma right them; should he tell them about the nightmare? Perhaps the Pervy-sage or Granny Tsunade might have a clue on what was happening, but perhaps the others would think he was going mad or something… should he tell them?

"… I… I just had a bad dream, that's all," Naruto replied while looking at the ground, peering his ears back. He had forgotten he was in his Ookami Fomu.

"why are you on your Ookami Fomu?" Tsunade had noticed, apparently

"I don't know… I just woke up like this…"

Suddenly, Naruto felt a terrible headache; but this was no normal headache… it felt as if his head had been filled with fire. Suddenly, everything went black for the boy.

"NARUTO!" was the last thing he heard from his friends.

…..

The blonde boy awakened once again, but this time he was no longer in the ruins of Siryo. He was in what seemingly seemed a sewer, but this sewer was very familiar for him. Surprisingly, he was still in his Ookami Fomu. Naruto stepped forward towards the familiar cage; after a while, crimson red eyes were looking straight at him. They were inspecting the transformed boy upside-down.

"**Well, well. At least you've finally decided to change your skinny style,**" the demon snickered in a mocking tone

"I'm not in the mood for your comments," Naruto growled, his fur bristling, "how did I get here, anyway? I don't need Chakra from you right now!"

"**I didn't bring you here, kid. You came here by yourself**,"

"By myself? But I didn't want to come here!"

"**Maybe your new Wolf Chakra has something to do with it, kid,**"

Naruto froze in place. Did the Kyuubi know about the Wolf Dragons…?

"**To answer your question, yes. I know everything about the Wolf Dragons.**"

"But how is that even possible?"

"**I've encountered them once in the past, boy. I was not born yesterday.**"

"Wait a minute… what do you mean Wolf Chakra?"

The Kyuubi chuckled in amusement. Apparently, the boy did not know about the effect of having two types of Chakra besides his own…

"**Haven't those dogs told you yet?**" he snickered

"Tell me what? Spill the beans!" Naruto yelled at the demonic fox.

"**Why should I? It's not my problem what happens to their leader. If you want to know, then ask one. Hehehe…**"

Suddenly, Naruto felt a terrible headache. He took his paws to his head, this was not a normal headache, it was very strong… the Kyuubi's laughter could still be heard, and the boy was surrounded in black… he was ready to return to the world of conscious..

XOXOXOXOXO

Ryu and the others silently crept trough the rest of the corridors. Saiko was panting heavily, his ears flat against his head and his eyes opened wide in horror.

"Oh, come on! Get over it already, would you?" Calcifer growled in irritation at the Earth Wolf Dragon

"I'll remember something similar when you have to hide in a place where males have never gone before!" Saiko replied in annoyance, but his voice was still shaky.

"Be quiet!" Rayver growled in low voice, "We'll be spotted if you two don't shut up!"

"When are we getting to the damn courtyard?" Calcifer muttered under his breath

"Only a little more…" Ryu replied dryly, we should not be far from the main entrance.

Suddenly, an alarm howl sounded in the corridor and perhaps the whole building. Ryu looked around in alarm.

"Damn! They discovered our escape!" Calcifer growled

"How did they find out?" Saiko added

"Think about that later, we must reach the courtyard NOW!" Ryu snapped as he ran towards the nearest turn, the others took a while to react and follow.

They were spotted by various guards, but it was no use hiding… they had been discovered anyway. The guards went after them, but were no match for their speed. After turning around various turns, the four warriors managed to reach the courtyard…

But what they found there was not pleasant in the least.


	21. Nightmares

Howling Dragon

Chapter 21- Nightmares

***Omake- Wolf Feast***

Sakura was resting under a tree, Saiko asleep next to her. Suddenly, a sound caught their attention; it sounded as a growl, coming right from their bellies.

"Hey, Saiko, aren't you hungry?" Sakura inquired while putting her hands on her belly

The Earth Wolf lifted his head to look at her, "I'm starving! But don't worry, Calcifer was supposed to catch up with us and bring some food,"

Suddenly, they were both startled by a loud thud a few steps away; Sakura was horrified to see a dead deer on the grass, Calcifer standing on top of it. The deer smelled like it had been cooked or something…

"What…. Is… THAT?" the pink-haired human mumbled in shock

"It's lunch!" Saiko grinned as he stood and walked over to the deer, which Calcifer had started to eat. Sakura was disgusted and horrified in seeing how the wolves started to dug their fangs into the deer and plucked big pieces of flesh and bone, blood pouring over the grass. Saiko turned to look at her after swallowing a piece of meat, his mouth tinted of blood.

"Hey, Calcifer, I think Sakura is a bit green," he commented

Calcifer lifted his head as well, with his mouth also tinted with blood, and was quite amused when he saw Sakura's face had a slight green tone. He decided to get a little fun.

"Hey, Sakura, you want the liver or the heard?" he asked her while lifting up his paws, holding the heart of the deer in one paw and its liver in the other.

That was it. Seeing a dead deer being eaten by wolves was one thing, but seeing a wolf holding two organs in his paws was too much. Sakura fainted on the spot, her face drained of all color. Calcifer chuckled.

"Humans," he smirked as he took a bite from the heart.

***End Omake***

Naruto woke up with a groan; he felt unusually warm, so he thought he was still in his Okami Fomu. His vision was blurry, perhaps because he had been unconscious for a great amount of time, or maybe because he was on a dark place. After some time, Naruto realized that he WAS on a cave, with a small blur of light a few steps away… a fire… then he noticed a blur of white fur coming closer… and a small orange blur following…

"You're finally awake," Yoshiko's voice reached his ears.

"How long was I out?" Naruto weakly asked

"About 5 hours… the others have gone to look for something to eat; I decided to stay here to make guard,"

"And Pop made me stay to look after Gamatatsu," Gamakichi grumbled as he laid down.

Naruto laid his head on his paws again. He was still feeling weak, and the Kyuubi's words were still on his head.

_Why don't you ask one of them?_

From these words, Naruto realized that the Kyuubi had indeed met the Wolf Dragons before. He had said something about having 3 types of Chakra and its effects… perhaps Yoshiko knew something about it, but then he would have to tell him that he was the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi. Would the Wolf Dragon react like the villagers of Konoha, or would he be the same and not mind about it? He hoped the second option would be the one he chose…

"Hey, Yoshiko… have you heard of the Kyuubi?" Naruto lifted his head to look at his companion

Yoshiko turned to look at Naruto in surprise, "why do you ask?"

"Just… curiosity…"

Yoshiko sighed and looked at the ground. He DID know about the Kyuubi, but it was forbidden to speak about The Dark Fire Day. Oh, well, the Council wouldn't find out, they were too busy with the Great Alpha's capture to mind about the bending of one rule or two.

"The nine-tails… my grandfather used to tell me stories about it, but I never believed them until… the Dark Fire Day."

Gamakichi turned to face the white-furred Wolf Dragon, "the Dark Fire Day?"

"Yeah. At about midday, the Kyuubi suddenly appeared in the Forest Region and started to burn everything in its path, demanding to see the Great Alpha. When the Great Alpha arrived, the Kyuubi threatened to burn down all of Syrio if he didn't hand over a Wolf Dragon named Ameno. It claimed that Ameno had betrayed him, but it refused to say how. The Great Alpha defeated the Kyuubi, although I still don't know how, and kicked him out. The Council named that day the Dark Fire day because almost all of the Forest Region was burned down to ashes, and it was forbidden to speak about it to the pups."

"Wait, if the pups were not told about the Dark Fire Day, how do you know about it?"

Yoshiko looked away, "never mind,"

Both Naruto and Gamakichi decided not to push Yoshiko any longer, they could tell by the look on his face that it was a painful subject for him. But Naruto thought now was the best time to tell the Wolf Dragon about his secret…

"Yoshiko, there's something I need to tell you," he spoke up

"What is it?"

Gamakichi could guess what Naruto was trying to say,

"You know what a Jinchuuriki is, don't you?"

"A living being that has a Tailed Beast sealed within, right?"

Naruto gulped, "yeah… well, what would you say if you met someone who is the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi?"

Yoshiko could almost sense where this was going, "do you mean…?"

"… I'm the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi,"

That took the Wolf Dragon for surprise. He had thought Naruto knew the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, but he had not thought that Naruto WAS the Jinchuuriki. Of course, he knew that the Jinchuuriki was not the same that the Tailed Beast, and how most Jinchuurikis were treated, but he did not blame them for it. After all, they had not chosen to have monsters sealed inside them, and most of them did not deserve the treatment they were given. The Ice Wolf Dragon gave Naruto a smile.

"Don't worry; I know you're not to blame for the deeds of the Kyuubi. You're just a victim of prejudice,"

Naruto was relieved Yoshiko thought that way. Gamakichi, however, sensed there was something else that Naruto wanted to ask.

"Hey," the orange toad spoke, "do you want to ask something else?"

Naruto nodded, "yeah, the Kyuubi mentioned something of having 3 types of Chakra inside your body,"

Yoshiko's smile faded away as quick as smoke. The boy was right; 3 types of Chakra together were unpredictable, especially when one of the Chakras was Tailed Beast Chakra. This would not be good…

"It is right," he spoke with a foreboding tone, "Wolf Dragon Chakra already gives some trouble when merged with another type of Chakra, but with two types of Chakra, it might be fatal."

Gamakichi gulped, "what's so different about Wolf Dragon Chakra than normal Chakra?"

Yoshiko turned to see him, "Wolf Dragon Chakra, or how we call it, Ryukra, is more dense and harder to control than normal Chakra. When merged with normal Chakra, Ryukra tends to repress it and starts running through the Chakra system."

Naruto gulped the lump in his throat, "do you mean Ryukra… replaces normal Chakra?"

"Exactly. Most humans take months in adapting to Ryukra, but those with high Chakra control get used to it in just a few weeks," Yoshiko faced Naruto and looked into the depths of his eyes, "but you have also the Kyuubi's Chakra…"

"What happens when Ryukra merges with two different types of Chakra?" Gamakichi inquired, already trembling at the thought.

"When merged with another type of Chakra, Ryukra represses and replaces it in your Chakra system. But when merged with two types… It is unpredictable, especially when one of the types of Chakra is Tailed Beast Chakra."

"So…" Naruto froze, "you don't know what might happen to me?"

"No, only a Ryukra Shaman would know,"

Gamakichi tilted his head in confusion, "Ryukra Shaman?"

"It's like a scholar that studies Ryukra and how it works, so that our Tribes might learn how to control it further. Most of them isolate themselves in the most secret places of Syrio, and it is very difficult to find them."

Gamakichi yawned, weariness already taking over him. Although he doubted he would be able to sleep due to his worry, he felt his eyelids heavy.

"We should go to sleep," Naruto muttered, worry still notable on both his eyes and voice, "we'll need forces to rescue the others,"

Yoshiko nodded, understanding. Gamakichi hopped next to his brother and fell asleep, but Naruto stayed where he was; he still had no strength to move. Yoshiko laid down a few steps away from Naruto; telling Naruto about the Dark Fire Day had also brought a very painful memory for him, and he hadn't the heart to tell the others about it. Finally, the Ice Wolf Dragon fell into a deep slumber, the sound of the wind blowing outside.

XOXOXOXO

Ryu froze when he saw the artifact which would have been- or perhaps that would BE- their executioner. Saiko and Rayver stared at it in horror as well; even Calcifer felt a twinge of fear in the depths of his being. They were staring at a wooden platform with an iron bar hanging about a meter above, and from the bar hung four chains, each with tiny yet sharp spines coming out. And beneath the chains, there were chairs which would be used for prisoners, in this case, for them to climb on so that the chains could be tied around their necks. Then, the chairs would be dropped…

In other words, that artifact was known as the Neckbreaker.

Unfortunately, they froze so long that when they were back to their senses, about hundreds of guards were already surrounding them, pointing their spears at them. To make things worse, Kaminaru and Mo were the first ones they spotted among the guards.

"Those two are starting to bother me…" Calcifer thought in anger

"Ryu, what are you doing?" Mo spoke out loud, "do you want to dig yourself a deeper grave?"

"I would rather dig my own grave than surrender to my beliefs just because the Council doesn't have the courage to stand up for themselves against the Snake Man!" Ryu growled. Usually he was respectful towards the Council, but in these circumstances, there was no time for formalities.

"Look, you can either go back to your cell and wait for the time of your execution.." Kaminaru growled as well, "… or we'll execute you at once, now that we're right next to the Neckbreaker!"

"Any ideas?" Calcifer muttered to his companions,

"I'm too of a moron to think of a plan…" Rayver replied in a hushed whisper

Saiko gulped; he had a plan, but Ryu would NOT like it in the least. He had to pick the right time…

"Kaminaru, listen to me!" Ryu growled, but his voice had a slightly pleading tone, "the Snake Man won't keep his word! He will kill the Great Alpha, if he hasn't already! Submitting and following him like a dog won't do any good!"

Kaminaru was having enough, "would you forget about it? It is better preventing than lamenting! YOU of all people should know BETTER than anyone!"

"Hey, if you kill us, how will you find Pantalaimon?" Calcifer snapped

Kaminaru's attitude changed when his son's name escaped the Fire Wolf Dragon's lips.

"Do you know where he is?" he inquired

Ryu, Rayver and Saiko knew Calcifer was just trying to earn more time, but he would probably only make Kaminaru angrier than before.

"I asked

"I asked you a question!" Kaminaru snapped, "do you know where my son is?"

Calcifer smirked, "if I told you, you would kill us right away. So I guess you don't have any choice but to let us live,"

Kaminaru was at moral crossroads now. He couldn't disobey his orders of executing those four, but he was worried about Pantalaimon. What if he was hurt or worse? Perhaps Calcifer was telling the truth and he needed to keep them alive at least until he found Pantalaimon, THEN he could execute them with no problem. But how would his son take it? After all, Pan saw Ryu as a second father-like figure; how would he react to the execution of his sensei? Just then, he remembered Beaucephalis's parents had died when the Snake Man attacked, and he had no one but Calcifer.

Saiko then knew it was the time, "guys, get ready,"

"For what?" his companions asked in unison

"For THIS!"

Suddenly, a dust cloud lifted into the air, forcing the guards around them to shield their eyes. Ryu, Calcifer and Rayver felt the ground beneath them moving, but they couldn't see anything; all they could hear was Saiko's voice…

"**Doton: Ana-Hori-Ki!**"

Mo reacted and decided to counterattack.

"**Mo Fubuki**!" he shouted while summoning a strong blizzard that soon blew the dust storm away.

However, what they saw was not pleasant in the least; the Ryu and the others were gone. To enworse things, there were no signs of any Jutsu which could have been used. The guards looked around for any sign of them, but those four had escaped.

"It can't be! How could they have gotten away?" Mo cried in anger, "we had them SURROUNDED!"

"Split up and look everywhere!" Kaminaru shouted at the guards gathered around them, "when you find them, kill them if you must! But don't let them get away!"

All the wolves present growled in agreement and darted away. Kaminaru just stood there, shocked. He couldn't believe it… they had gotten away, after all the trouble he went through to capture them. Apparently, Calcifer was only taunting him to earn time when he mentioned Pantalaimon. Unbetsknown to him, however, the now-fugitive wolves were closer than he thought…

About two meters underground, Rayver, Calcifer and Ryu stood up, shaking the dust and dirt off their fur.

"Saiko, you idiot!" Calcifer growled, "You could have told us you were going to crumble the ground!"

"Come on! U saved our butts, didn't I?" Saiko defended himself at the time he shook the dust off his own fur.

Rayver spat some rocks he had almost swallowed when they sank under the ground. Really, he hated Saiko's Jutsus more than Ryu did sometimes, but he had to admit they could be useful for escaping.

"And you said escape Jutsus were a complete waste of time!" Saiko smirked while giving Calcifer a triumphant look

The Fire Wolf Dragon just rolled his eyes, "alright, you just showed us how wrong I was!"

Ryu, however, was not in the mood for comments like that; apparently, Saiko always seemed to forget he was claustrophobic.

"I think this is a bad idea! You knew I don0t like close spaces!" he growled, looking around frenetically

"You would rather go back up there and face that army of guards, I guess," Calcifer growled at him

"Come on, guys. We must find a tunnel that leads away from the Council Building and then find Naruto and the others," Saiko pointed to another tunnel that led to who-knows-where, as Yoshiko would call it.

"We could find the catacombs," Rayver suggested

"CATACOMBS?" Ryu yelled,

Saiko quickly put his paws over Ryu's mouth, "don't yell! You want to cause a collapse?"

That comment, however, only augmented Ryu's fear. Calcifer contained his urge to laugh at the Wind Wolf Dragon; he was taught that making fun of a weakness is wrong. He may dislike Ryu, but not enough to mock at him for his claustrophobia. After all, Ryu didn't make fun of him due to his own aquaphobia.

"what were you saying about the catacombs?" Calcifer inquired

"there are tunnels one the catacombs that might take us out of here," Rayver explained, "the question is how will we find the others without being found ourselves,"

"we will worry about it later, right now we should get out of here," Ryu was the first one to dash towards the tunnel, his companions following him into the darkness of the unknown.


	22. Underground Again

Howling Dragon

Chapter 22- Underground… Again.

"What was that?"

"For the last time, Ryu, it was just a rock!" Saiko growled in annoyance

Calcifer scoffed, "if I knew I would be hearing Wind Bag complaining the entire trip, I would have rather let the guards capture me!"

"Alright, keep mocking at me!" Ryu snapped, "But when we cross a river or a lake, don't start complaining when I start mocking at you!"

Rayver sighed in annoyance. Really, Ryu's claustrophobia could be annoying sometimes. Actually, it seemed as if all Tribes had one type of phobia as a Tribal characteristic; and curiously, the phobia seemed to be an opposite to the element they mastered. The clearest example was the Ice Tribe's Arsonphobia. Besides the Wind Tribe's Claustrophobia, the Fire Tribe possessed Aquaphobia, and the Earth Tribe had Acrophobia. Another yelp in fear brought the Shadow Wolf back from his thoughts.

"What was that?" Ryu looked around in fear, to which Saiko reacted by smacking his forehead with his paw for about the millionth time.

"Like I told you TWO minutes ago, Ryu, it was just a ROCK!" he growled.

Calcifer looked up, "_why me? Of all_ _wolves in Syrio, why me?_" he thought in frustration

"Well, where are we supposed to go now?" Rayver inquired, attempting to cool down the air.

Saiko took out a scroll from his red tuft of hair; he claimed it was some kind of Jutsu of expansion so that he could keep scrolls and papers in his hair. The Earth Wolf unfolded the scroll, which turned out to be a map of the catacombs; Ryu (who managed to calm down a bit) and Calcifer walked closer and took a peek to the piece of paper in curiosity.

"We're right here," Saiko signaled a point in the map, "the nearest exit is the North tunnel, which is located that way,"

Ryu gulped when he saw the direction of the dark tunnel his teammate was pointing at, "the North tunnel? But I heard that it has been unused for so long that it has become a Mothra nest,"

"Oh, come on, Wind Bag! Don't tell me you actually believe in those gossips!" Calcifer teased

"No, I don't! but it's better preventing than lamenting!"

"Let's just go to the damn tunnel, could we?" Rayver muttered under his breath while passing by his companions and heading into the darkness of the tunnel, soon followed by the others.

Time passed, but since they were underground, they could not guess how much time had passed since they had headed for the North Tunnel. However, it was very clear that Ryu was getting every time more anxious by the minute; Calcifer was trying to contain the urge to throw a fireball at the Wind Wolf Dragon. Rayver had not said anything on the whole path, and was very serious -well, more serious than usual-, as if there was something about the catacombs that bothered him. But it had no sense; why would he bothered by a simple cave? After all, Shadow Wolves literally lived in the dark. Finally, after about what seemed like an eternity of walking, the wolves came to what seemed an underground cave on one side of the tunnel.

Saiko took another look at his map, "alright, this entrance should lead us to the North tunnel,"

"Wait a minute! Someone should go in there first and make sure it's safe!" Ryu exclaimed quite nervous, "who knows? Perhaps an animal is living there,"

"You chicken! You're simply scared of going into another tunnel!" Calcifer growled

Ryu snapped at him, "say that again! I dare you!"

"Calcifer, stop playing with Ryu's Claustrophobia and go check it out, would you?" Saiko cut in between the two and gave Calcifer a glare.

The Fire Wolf scoffed and grumbled something about 'being ordered around by the ground kisser' as he made his way into the entrance. It was pith dark in there, but he could not use his fireballs in a tunnel without causing a collapse; in short, he would have to rely on his other senses to explore the cave. A sound behind him sent a chill down his spine; it reminded him of the sound snakes made when they crawl. Calcifer turned around in suspicion, but the sound now came from above him.

"Hey, Calcifer!" he heard Saiko's voice, "did you find anything in there?"

When the Fire Wolf was about to reply, he felt something hot on his neck… hot air. Calcifer looked up in fear and froze when he encountered two pairs of crimson red eyes.

Meanwhile, Saiko was starting to worry when he heard no reply, and was peeking into the entrance, seeing nothing but pitch darkness.

"Calcifer, what are you doing?" he shouted

"OUT OF THE WAY, YOU IDIOT!"

Saiko was shocked when Calcifer ran into him and both fell to the ground with a loud _thud_, landing out of the way of the cave just when the head of a giant, feathered snake with four eyes and horns closed its mouth in the air. Rayver and Ryu jumped back as well, looking in shock as the irritated creature went back into its cave, going back to sleep. As soon as they recovered from the shock, Ryu and Rayver walked closer to Calcifer, feeling he might try to-

"SAIKO!" as expected, Calcifer tried to lunge towards the Earth Wolf, just as Ryu and Rayver held him and tried to keep their grip on him.

"Calm down, Coal Breath!" Ryu snapped, avoiding the Fire Wolf's kicking legs.

"I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS, SAIKO!" Calcifer was screaming with the fury of a demon.

Saiko held up his paws in defense with a terrified look on his face, "me? What did I do?"

"WHAT DID YOU DO? YOU SENT ME INTO THAT DAMN HOLE AND I WAS ALMOST EATEN BY A GIANT, SCALY, SLIMY IKUG!"

"Actually, Ikugs are not slimy," when he noticed the look the others were giving him, Rayver decided to stay quiet, "… forget about it…"

"I don't get it!" Saiko took his map out again, "this is supposed to lead to the North Tunnel,"

"Let me see that," Ryu snatched the piece of paper from Saiko and examined it carefully. After a while, he shook his head in annoyance… and turned the map around.

Saiko's cheeks became as red as Calcifer's fur, finally realizing why they had gone in the wrong direction. He became even more nervous when Calcifer threw him a poisonous glare.

"Err… hehe… t-that explains the I-Ikug…" Saiko mumbled in embarrassment, "and why these strange symbols are not as strange… hehe"

".. I despise you," Calcifer hissed as Rayver finally let go off him.

"It means we're in the South Tunnel, so the North tunnel should be… that way,"

Saiko pointed towards another nearby entrance, but this time made sure he was holding the map in the correct way.

"Wait a minute! Even if we do reach the North tunnel, how will we find the correct tunnel?" Ryu inquired, "The catacombs have hundreds of tunnels, and some of them are Ikug nests, like that one,"

Rayver didn't say anything; he was lost in his thoughts. For some reason, this place seemed familiar to him… but he could not remember it clearly. However, what he DID remember was that the smelling sense could be their compass to the way out,

"I have an idea," he finally whispered

"You? An idea? That's a progress," Calcifer commented

"Supposedly, there must be a way for oxygen to get into the catacombs or we would suffocate. The secret exits are big enough to let large quantities of oxygen into the tunnels. If one of us uses the smelling sense, we might be able to catch a scent of something that is only aboveground, like… flowers…"

Saiko rubbed his chin, "… perhaps that would work out… but who will do it?"

"Don't look at me! I don't want any underground dust into my lungs!" Calcifer snapped while holding up his paws

"And I'm allergic to dust," Ryu added, looking away.

"I'll do it,"

The other three wolves turned to see at Rayver in surprise, they had not expected him to offer himself. After all, with his pessimistic attitude, they were surprised that now he claimed he could actually DO something.

"You sure?" Saiko gulped

"My smelling sense is the most advanced; I was raised and born in a cave, remember?" Rayver replied coldly.

The Shadow Wolf closed his eyes and smelled the air, tasting every scent in it, trying to find an uncommon scent. After a few minutes, he finally caught something; it smelled like some sort of fruit or flower… and it was coming from…

"Follow me!"

Rayver shot out like a bullet, not giving his teammates time to react. They ran after him, trying not to run into any more Ikug's nest.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Come on, this way!"

Pan peeked his head out of the bush- or at least what remained of it- to make sure there was no one around. Gamakichi had wanted to continue with his training, but they had to wait until everyone had fallen asleep so that the Chief Toad would not get angry. After sneaking out of the cave, they had been looking for a good place to practice. It was a clearing, or what remained of it, just ashes of what were once bushes and trees.

"Well, let's see how much you improved since our last training session," Pan grinned at the toadling.

Gamakichi nodded and stood firm; then he concentrated Chakra in his throat, the unpleasant sensation of fire in his throat back. However, this time, Gamakichi let out a medium-sized fireball which died down before it struck a burned tree log. The orange toadling grinned.

"I did it!" he exclaimed in excitement

"You just need a bit more practice, but at least it lasted longer than your first fireball…" Pan joked

"It was the first technique Calcy-sensei taught me," Beau replied, before looking at the ground in sadness, "I hope he is okay,"

"Don't worry; he can take care of himself. They don't call him Fire Master for nothing,"

"I hope you're right; he is the only family I have,"

Gamakichi tilted his head in confusion, "what do you mean? And your parents?"

That question almost brought Beau to tears, "… dead,"

"What? What happened to them? If you don't want to answer, I completely understand,"

"… When the Snake Man attacked Syrio, the pups were sent to the Hidden Fortress for safety while the wolves that could fight went to try and stop the Snake Man. But my parents… they were killed…"

_*Flashback*_

_They were dead… weren't they?_

_Beau was watching from the corner as most of the pups reunited with their parents. Well, actually, most pups only reunited with only ONE parent, the other having fell on battle; like Pantalaimon, who was crying bitterly in his father's paws over the loss of his mother. The few pups whose both parents could survive were quite lucky, in his opinion. However, the other remaining pups, like HIM, soon realized none of their parents had made it. This made Beau both angry and sad; his father had promised to be back…_

"_Beau?"_

_Beau looked up, half-expecting to see at least his father, but he encountered Calcifer's violet eyes. However, his usually fiery, hot eyes were cool and soft; sympathetic looks coming from Calcifer were extremely rare, and the Fire pup was quite surprised._

"_Beau… I heard about your parents… I'm sorry," the Fire Master whispered in sadness._

_That was the last straw; Beaucephalis burst out into tears and hid his head in his front legs. He felt his sensei lie down next to him and wrap his furry tail around him; the Pup snuggled deeply into the Fire Wolf's warm fur. Calcifer didn't do this often, so he wanted to enjoy this as long as he could._

_*end flashback*_

By then, Beau was already crying from the memory. He remembered Calcifer telling him that his parents had died protecting a pregnant she-wolf from the giant snakes. After that, Calcifer had decided to look after him; it was the least he could do, since Beau's parents had helped him in the past. Pan and Gamakichi wrapped their arms around Beau, trying to calm him down.

"Its okay, Beau…" Pan spoke up, "I understand how you're feeling… partly…"

Gamakichi added, "me too; when my mom died, I was very sad, too…"

Beau sniffed and accepted his friends' embrace; since Calcifer was not there, he would appreciate a hug from anyone.

XOXOXOXOXO

"Saiko, I swear that if we run into another dam Ikug, I'll use your livers for my Christmas tree!" Calcifer snarled as the group came to a large entrance.

"Don't worry, this time I have the map in the correct position, so there's nothing to worry about," Saiko replied as he took another look at the map and into the chamber they had just walked in.

The underground chamber was pitch dark, but in the far side they could see a small spot of light. The exit was near. However, Saiko felt a shiver go down his spine; the ground felt rather… sticky. Ryu, however, was only concerned about going back into the sunlight.

"The exit!" he cried in relief as he darted out towards the speckle of light, "Let's go!"

"Ryu, wait!" Saiko cried out as he ran after him, but the ground made it hard for him.

Eventually, Ryu and the others took notice of the ground's stickiness, as well. They stopped, and felt a sticky, almost humid substance on their paws. However, because of the dark, they could not investigate the floor. A sound startled Saiko and he stepped back, but unknowingly stepped onto something slimy.

"EW!" Saiko reacted almost immediately and shook his right leg, trying to shake off the slimy substance.

"Hey, Coal Breath! Would you give us a match?" Ryu growled as he looked around blindly, trying not to step on one of those things.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Calcifer replied in anger as he breathed a fireball the size of a cat

However, as soon as the fireball lit part of the chamber, the Wolves realized they had gone into hot water. All around them was covered in, what appeared to be, spider webs, and on some spider webs there were big , yellowish spheres which seemed to have movement inside. Saiko gulped and turned towards the object he had stepped onto, and saw it was one of those sphere; but it had a hole, and there seemed to be a creature inside… submerged in amniotic fluid there was a baby spider.

"OH, SHOOT!" Calcifer jumped back, clearly horrified.

"I knew it! I told you there were Mothras in here!" Ryu snarled in horror as well.

"Wait a second! If those are eggs, that means…" Saiko gulped, secretly dreading the answer, "… the mother must be here as well,"

"Oh, really?" Calcifer replied in annoyance

"Well, female Mothras make their nests in dark places, like this chamber, and they look for their eggs until they hatch. In fact, the mother places herself above the-"

The Earth Wolf Dragon stopped abruptly and his green eyes opened in horror; he gulped and slowly lifted his gaze to the ceiling of the chamber… and spotted a VERY large spider on the ceiling. This-said spider was the size of an elephant, and it was of a pitch black color with blood red markings. The Mothra soon jumped down to the floor, angry to have lost one of her children. The wolves had barely time to move out of her way, and were soon frightened by the giant arachnid.

"First, don't panic. Second, don't panic! And third, did I mention not to panic?" Saiko mumbled in terror

"Don't worry guys! We've dealt with uglier things than a giant spider! Besides, don't forget we have-"

Ryu stopped abruptly when he realized something; he had left his sword to Naruto when Mo and Kaminaru had captured them. And who knew where Naruto and the others were.

"Do you see what I see?" Ryu inquired in horror

Calcifer soon realized what he meant, "… It's what we DON'T see…"

"We left our weapons to Naruto and the others!" Saiko cried out, even more panicky than before.

Rayver remained serious, but his eyes clearly showed fear.

"We're toasted…"


	23. Arachnophobia

Howling Dragon

Chapter 23- Arachnophobia

Ryu stared in horror at the giant Mothra as it was threatening to close them in from the exit. They were weaponless, and Jutsu didn't work on these giant spiders; he had learned this the bad way when he snuck into a Mothra's lair accidently when he was a puppy. Yang sensei had saved him from being its snack- or worse, an egg sac- but the old dragon was not there to help now. Apparently, they would have to find a way to escape the Mothra without the use of Jutsu.

Saiko wasn't doing any better, however; he had always feared spiders, especially big, scary, dangerous, hairy spiders like this. He still didn't forget that prank Calcifer and Yoshiko had played on him when they were pups.

"Hey, Saiko!" Rayver called out in worry, "tell me you can use your Jutsu to make another tunnel!"

"I can't! I'm way too scared of the damn spider to even think about using Jutsu which wouldn't work anyway!"

"Come on, Saiko! You can make tunnels when we're being attacked by an entire army, but you can't make a tunnel when we're being attacked by a small insect?" Ryu teased, still in their situation.

"SMALL?! HOW DARE YOU CALL THAT GIANT, SNEAKY, HORRIBLE, HAIRY, MULTI-EYED MONSTER?!"

Calcifer started to lose patience as the Mothra got near, "Saiko, I swear! If that giant arachnid eats me alive, you'll be the first I'm going after!"

Saiko returned the glare with a growl, "You should have thought that before putting a tarantula in my bed!"

"That was fifteen years ago!"

"I haven't gotten over it yet!"

"Would you settle this later?! We have to get away-" Rayver was interrupted when suddenly he was caught by something sticky; the shadow wolf hit the wall behind him, but he didn't fall to the ground. In confusion, Rayver looked down to see a large slimy, large net all around his body, sticking him to the wall. Apparently, the Mothra wanted a snack for its children when they hatched. And what could be better than a fresh Wolf Dragon?

"Run! Save yourselves!" he cried out, half-expecting Ryu's reaction.

"What! We're not leaving you with that overgrown Tarantula!"

"I am, speak for yourself!" Calcifer almost immediately ran towards the speckle of light in the distance, avoiding the arachnid's legs. But the spider seemed to realize Calcifer's intentions, since it shot a net towards his legs, and the Fire wolf rolled over the rocky floor. His legs had been tangled with the nets, and he knew very well that a Mothra's silk was very hard to break… but it was very flammable and melted with the slightest wave of heat.

Calcifer smirked slightly, "_it might work…_"

The spider was very smart however, since it shot a smaller net, this time towards Calcifer's jaws, and wrapped them shut, enabling him to use his Fire Jutsu.

"_DAMN SPIDER!"_

Only Saiko and Ryu remained on their feet; well, actually Ryu was the only one standing his ground. Saiko was frozen in fear, looking into the multiple eyes of the giant spider. He didn't see the net flying towards him until it was a few seconds from catching him.

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

Saiko came back from his terrified state when Ryu jumped in front of him and the net flew into him instead. This brought Saiko from his petrified state, and he realized that he was the only one who was on foot; the other three wolves had been caught.

"Saiko, don't just stand there! Do something!" Rayver growled

" W-what do you want me to do?! How am I supposed to take down a giant spider?!" Saiko replied in absolute terror

"MPH!" Calcifer growled, unable to speak due to the web closing his mouth shut. However, he was really steamed.

"Save your threats for later, Calcifer! If you haven't noticed, Saiko needs some support!" Ryu shouted.

Saiko didn't know what to do. He had to options: flee from the spider and look for help, or fight against the spider on his own, with low chances of success. As the Mothra was about to give him a paralyzing bite, the Earth Wolf managed to escape from its fangs and was began to run towards the exit, hoping the Mothra would save Ryu and the others for later.

"I'll be back!" Saiko shouted before running out of sight.

Ryu, Rayver and Calcifer –well, Calcifer could only let out a muffled shout- shouted, "SAIKO!"

The Mothra let out what seemed to be a mocking laugh and stung Rayver with the long, thorn-like stinger on her rear part, the Shadow Wolf Dragon was soon unconscious. Ryu tried to bite his way out of the web, but it was too strong; he watched as Calcifer was stung as well, and the Mothra went in for him. He felt a sharp pain in his thorax, and after a few seconds his eyes started to feel heavy; he tried to keep them open, but they were closing unwillingly. Finally, everything went dark…

…

When the Wind Wolf recovered consciousness, the Mothra was nowhere in sight. But he could clearly see that the giant spider had strapped him to a larger web, apparently the main net. He looked around frenetically and spotted Rayver and Calcifer, strapped to the main net as well; however, they were still unconscious. Everything was darkness, except for a few streams of light that came from the tiny holes above.

He still was shocked… Saiko had run away, he had left them to the Mothra. He couldn't believe it; his best friend, the wolf he had come to see as a brother, had left them on their own. The Earth wolf had claimed he would return, but Ryu didn't know if he could believe him or not. After all, they were taught in school that if a teammate abandoned you, he or she was to be seen as an enemy.

A groan from his left caught Ryu's attention; he turned around and spotted Rayver growling softly and opening his eyes slightly, trying to remember what had happened. Calcifer soon followed, but he didn't groan nor make any sound; he simply opened his eyes and looked around, before spotting him.

"Mph!" he cried, forgetting the web forcing his jaws shut.

"Coal Breath, seriously," Ryu spoke, trying to cheer the others a bit, "If you can't speak, you shouldn't bother to even try,"

Calcifer gave him a dagger glare, and bristled his fur, a growl emanating from his throat. Rayver sighed in frustration.

"No offense, Ryu, but now's not the time to make jokes…"

"_Wind Bag's starting to sound like Yoshiko_," Calcifer thought, wishing to be able to speak.

Ryu rolled his eyes, "Sorry for trying cheer you up," he added sarcastically, "I forgot there's never a time to make jokes for you,"

Rayver didn't reply, he simple looked down, all brightness gone from his eyes. Calcifer looked away, although he looked as upset as the Shadow Wolf. Ryu understood they were as sad about Saiko's supposed 'betrayal' as him.

"… Look, sorry… I know what you're thinking of Saiko right now, but…" Ryu looked down, his ears down, "… perhaps he'll come back, like he said he would,"

Calcifer rolled his eyes in annoyance, his fur bristling a little; Ryu interpreted that as a "_oh, yeah, like that little traitor is going to face against a giant spider alone just to save us_,"

"Don't say that, Coal Breath! As if you didn't know Saiko! He'd never leave us to die!" Ryu growled.

Calcifer snorted, as if saying "_Then you didn't really know him_,"

Ryu looked away, refusing to look at Calcifer any longer. Deep down, however, he feared Calcifer was right and he hadn't really known Saiko's coward side.

He hoped Calcifer was wrong.

XOXOXO

Saiko ran as fast as he could, not daring to look behind.

After getting out of the cave, the first thing he did was to try and find someone who could help. But the Gods were not on his side; he couldn't find a living soul in about 50 miles around. To make matters worse, in that very moment Ryu and the others must surely think he had betrayed them. That was another reason of why he had to hurry and find someone- or something, he didn't care what or who- just to find somebody who could help.

It seemed like he had to use his ears on this one...

Saiko stopped in track and looked at the gray sky, before looking down and closing his eyes. He lifted his ears, and remained silent, waiting for any sound to come to him. For some time, everything was silent, but as seconds passed, he started to hear soft whispers, inaudible for human ears. As Saiko concentrated on those whispers, he started to hear low whispers, and the voices started to sound familiar…

"_Do you_ _think_ _Ryu and the others will have escaped?"_a male voice spoke in the distance

"_I'm not sure, the Council Building's dungeons are flawless. There is no way out of there… unless you are dead_," another male voice replied

"_Come on, we have to think!_" this time, a female voice was speaking, "_Yoshiko, is there any way to infiltrate that building?_"

Saiko opened his eyes when he heard his teammate's name; apparently, Naruto and the others were already planning to free them from the Council Building. If only they knew he and the others had already escaped… But Saiko decided to save his thoughts for later and decided to go and inform them of Ryu's situation. The Earth Wolf immediately began to run towards the direction he had heard the voices, hoping to get back to the cave in time.

A few miles away from where Saiko was, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Yoshiko were sitting around a small circle; Jiraiya had insisted that they should hurry up and attack the Council Palace to rescue Ryu, but Tsunade countered it stating that they had to at least know the security levels. After all, Yoshiko had claimed that the Council took prisoner custody very seriously. But he thought that with all the mess about the Great Alpha, the security of the dungeons was the least of their problems.

Finally, Jiraiya let out an irritated sigh, "if we don't hurry up, Ryu is going to have his head hung up in a wall, if he hasn't already,"

Yoshiko replied narrowing his eyes, "If we simply go and attack the Council Palace unprepared, it will be _our_ heads which will hang in the walls,"

"Then what do you suggest, Einstein?"

"We should find a catacomb near here and-" Yoshiko was interrupted by a questioning look from Tsunade.

"Catacombs?" She inquired

Yoshiko sighed softly, "Catacombs which used to be a safe passage for the Alphas in case of an enemy attack," the Ice Wolf looked up at the sky and thought, "_But we've never been at war with any of the other Summoning Clans, so it has never been used at all_,"

"You mean we can go into the Palace unnoticed if we use one of those catacombs?" Tsunade was quite impressed; she hadn't thought Wolf Dragons were so… wary. "And where are those catacombs?"

Yoshiko was about to reply when he heard a sound; he lifted his ears and looked towards the source of the sound. It was approaching… Yoshiko let out a soft growl in his throat, alerting Jiraiya and Tsunade of the possible threat. The sound was getting louder and louder, until a familiar brown-furred figure collapsed outside the bushes.

Yoshiko opened his eyes wide in shock, "Saiko?! Is that you?!"

The Earth Wolf stood up weakly, and looked up to see at Yoshiko, "Ryu and the others are in trouble!"

"What kind of trouble?!" Tsunade demanded, in worry.

"And how did you-?!" Jiraiya was about to interrupt before being interrupted by Saiko

"Spider… giant… catacombs… Ryu… egg sac… ARGH! I'll explain you later! We need to go, _now_!"

With this, the Earth Wolf dragon darted back into the forest, towards the way from which he had came. Although confused, Yoshiko and the humans went after him.

XOXOXO

Back in the cave, Ryu had fallen asleep out of worry and exhaustion; two days of wandering underground tunnels had finally caught to him. Calcifer and Rayver were next to him, asleep as well; however, their position was quite… uncomfortable for them. They were stuck against a web-covered cavern wall, and they usually slept on the floor, with their heads over their paws. Ryu looked around the underground cavern, wanting to make sure that the Mothra wasn't around for now… Luckily, unlike common wolves, Wolf Dragons could actually sheathe and unsheathe their claws, just like cats. Most Wolf Dragons, however, only used their fangs, and rarely used their claws unless it was completely necessary –like hunting, for example-, preferring to use the traditional way.

Who had thought that those claws could be so useful in these situations?

Ryu gritted his teeth as he unsheathed one of his long-sheated claws and started to try and cut the web; it was quite hard due to the thickness of the web. But after a while, he managed to cut enough of the web to crawl out of it. Looking around to make sure the Mothra hadn't returned arrived, Ryu started to cut Rayver's prison. The Shadow Wolf opened his eyes slightly when he heard snapping and looked down, spotting Ryu cutting the silk. He soon opened his eyes wide in surprise,

"Ryu? How did you-?"

Ryu grinned as he showed his teammate his claw, and made a final cut, releasing Rayver off the web. Calcifer heard the snap and woke up as well, but before he had time to look around, Rayver used his Shadow Claw to release the Fire Wolf from his bounds. The first thing Calcifer did when he was free was cut off the web around his jaws. He opened and closed his mouth various times to soften his muscles.

"I swear that if I see Saiko I'm going to send him into a world of pain!" he snarled

"We'll talk about that later, let's get out of here before that spider comes back!"

Rayver was looking into the ceiling as he whispered, "Too late…"

The Shadow Wolf pointed at the ceiling, and the other two wolves followed his paw, realizing in horror that the Mothra was back. It was _not_ happy.

Ryu gulped, "Any ideas?"

"You're the one who usually makes the plans, Wind Bag." Calcifer scowled, "Why don't that big head of yours!"

That comment did it. Ryu thought for a moment, took a quick glance at the ceiling, and drew a grin on his face.

"Coal Breath, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but that's a good idea," he spoke, and received a confused stare from his teammate.

"What…?"

"At the count of three, use a Jutsu to cause a collapse."

Rayver and Calcifer simultaneously yelled, "WHAT?!"

"Are you nuts?!" Rayver snapped

"I think that being in that sac affected your brain!" Calcifer followed with a snarl, "You want to kill us all?!"

Ryu gave the two a stern look.

"Trust me!"

Rayver and Calcifer stared at each other in doubt, but in the end, they nodded and looked up, staring at the spiky ceiling as the Mothra started to lean closer to them, sending chills down their spine. Ryu started counting.

"One…"

The Mothra hissed and prepared its stinger, not willing to let its prey escape so easily.

"Two…"

The three wolves got into a fighting position, preparing to rush out of the cave as soon as they caused the ceiling to collapse.

…

"NOW!"

Ryu, Calcifer and Rayver threw a Cyclone, Flame Thrower and Night Shadow respectively towards the ceiling, using all the Ryukra they had. Before the Mothra could react, tons of rock fell from the ceiling upon its thorax, immobilizing it completely. The wolves rushed towards the exit of the cave as the cavern started collapsing, squashing the rest of the eggs inside.

"We're not going to make it!" Rayver cried out

Calcifer snapped, "Shut the hell up! You'll bring us bad luck!"

"Could you save that discussion for when we get out of here?!" Ryu growled under his breath as he avoided a falling rock, "We're almost there!"

The three wolves sped up, the cavern collapsing completely.

Outside the cave, Saiko and the others had already arrived. As the Earth Wolf came to a halt, Yoshiko ran out of the bushes soon after. Jiraiya and Tsunade had been forced to jump on his back, for they had not been able to keep up with the wolves.

"It's here!" the Earth Wolf cried out, "We came out from here! Well, I came out, but… Oh! You know what I mean!"

Yoshiko perked up his ears in alarm and he heard something happening inside the cave, "There's something going on in there!"

Before Saiko could reply, three blurs of color rushed out of the dark, covered in sweat and dust, as everything inside the cavern collapsed, killing the Mothra and its eggs. Saiko's group stared in shock as Ryuu and the other three Wolf Dragons came to a stop a few steps away from them, and saw a grin on the Wind Wolf's face.

"… Piece of cake."


End file.
